On the Saturday night boxing fight in New York between Dmitry Bivol and Joe Smith Jr.; Bivol defeats Smithy Jr. to retain his WBA Light Heavyweight belt in a unanimous points decision win.
The Russian fighter had to withstand a late rally of punches from Smith Jr. but he hurt his stubborn opponent multiple times to get a unanimous decision from three judges for scores of 118-110, 119-109 and 119-109.
The aggressive early assault from Smith Jr. was favorable for Bivol who easily countered his American opponent with a stiff right-hand punch in the opening round.
Smith Jr. again tried to get his opponent’s respect with his flurry of punches but Bivol awarded him with his own combination of punches in the second round.
In the third round, Bivol moved in easily to deliver his precision shots but was held down by a strong right-hand punch from Smith Jr. in the fourth round.
Spurred on his previous round’s success, American moved in the fifth but was stopped in his tracks as a crisp right counter greeted him from Bivol.
Smith Jr. was greatly threatened after a hurtful punches bombardment from Bivol in the sixth round and the American was forced to take cover on the ropes in the eighth round.
After the fight entered into closing rounds, Bivol broke the resistance of Smith Jr. but was slightly troubled by American in the tenth round. In the closing rounds, Bivol had to settle for a points win.
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