Dmitry Bivol’s Motivation: How To Be A Great Fighter

From a humble upbringing in his home of Kyrgyzstan to reaching the pinnacle of boxing, Dmitry Bivol’s ascent to success in the ring has involved a journey full of sacrifices, discipline and relentless dedication. 

One of boxing’s top pound-for-pound names, Bivol holds the rare trait of being both a great but humble fighter; showing class inside and outside of the ring regardless of results. 

Holding a layered identity, he was born and raised in Kyrgyzstan to a Moldovan father and a Kazakh mother of Korean descent. They met in Russia, where Bivol’s family now mainly reside too.

Having first started boxing at an early age in his homeland, Bivol has gone on to master his craft with a uniquely recognisable style and dominantly reign as world champion in a distinguished career.

In his own words, Bivol spoke exclusively to BOXRAW about his early years in life, boxing career and key motivations for chasing greatness in the ring. 

How was your childhood growing up in Kyrgyzstan and what are your earliest memories of boxing? 

My childhood was amazing. I grew up in Kyrgyzstan with good weather, with good people, with good food. And at the same time, my childhood was with a lot of competitions, outside with other kids on the street. 

Because we didn't have phones that time, we always wanted to fight on the street. We always wanted to do some sport. Some competitions, which we created. On the street we were fighting a lot. 

You know, with another kids. And it wasn't like, aggressive. We created our competitions. Like, 'are you scared of this guy?’ No? OK, let's make a fight.’ We created the rules. Don't hit people who are laying on the ground or when we see the blood, we will stop.

Because that time in the nineties, there were very popular movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jackie Chan. With a lot of karate, with a lot of fights and kids wanted to fight because of this. 

I was coming home after I was walking on the street and my father, he had the mitts and I was working on the mitts. And we were watching a lot of movies with the fighting and I told him I want to learn and do this too.  

Then my dad brought me to the boxing gym when I was almost six years old. At first it was karate. But then in a couple of months, boxing. And I loved boxing because there were much more guys at different ages in the same group and when we were doing boxing, it was like a family. And I like that mood. 

When did you first realise you were good at boxing and how did your parents feel about you getting into it competitively? 

Maybe from around 10 years old, the coach started telling my parents , ‘you know, your kid could be some somebody. He has potential but we cannot do here anything with his potential. You need to go to somewhere close, maybe to Kazakhstan or to Russia. You need to go to another country because they could care about your kid because he needs a lot of competitions. It cost money. He needs a lot of training camps. It cost money also.’

My dad, since the beginning, he loved the boxing. He was going with me every training [session]. He was taking me to the boxing gym and he was staying all training. He was watching. He had a good relationship with the coach and other parents. He loved it and he loves until today. 

My mother, she was OK. She never said ‘it's not a good sport or that it will damage me’, never. She always supported me all my career. Everything I wanted to do, she was supporting. 

You have quite a unique and fluid style of fighting. How would you describe this style yourself and how have you developed that from early in your career? 

It's a mix. First of all, I could say that the base is like Soviet Union style. I move a lot. All of my coaches since young have helped add something to this style. I'm moving and throwing punches with a relaxed shoulder. 

What is your main motivation for your boxing career? What pushes you to keep training so hard and aiming to achieve even more success in the ring? 

Main motivation? I think I just want to say to myself that you spent all these years and you did it perfectly. You just didn't waste your time. You realised your potential. Before it was like, ‘I want to have a belt.’ It was motivating me.

But I want to be a hero for my kids. And of course, I know now you can be a hero for your kids without belts and without boxing. But I want to be happy that I didn't waste my time and I realised my potential. This is motivating me to stand up in front of the mirror and tell to myself, ‘good job’. 

Are there any fighters who you admired or wanted to be like when you were growing up? Who were you favourite fighters growing up? 

At that time [growing up] I didn't watch too much fights but Mike Tyson was famous then. And I liked how Mike Tyson beat his opponents. And I think most of the guys back then wanted to be like Tyson. 

Then the beginning of 2000, I started watching more old fights. I like Muhammad Ali, of course. And then my favourite fighter became Roy Jones Jr. And I like to watch his fights. 

What’s the best advice someone has ever given you to help with your career? 

I’ve got a lot of good advice. But the best one of them is to think about your defence first. Because boxing someday will finish and you need your head still. 

What’s the one trait you think every fighter needs? 

Every fighter has to want to be a winner. You cannot go in the ring with doubts or thoughts of not winning. You have to want to win. You have to want this and have extreme feelings for it.

Of course, it's not only discipline to be on top, it's a lot of a lot of things. It's a team. It's luck. You have to be lucky also. You have to be talented. You have to be a hard worker. You have to be disciplined. Because all of it, it makes you on the top. And you have to believe in yourself also. 

How do you motivate yourself on the days when you don’t feel like working hard? 

I just need to go for training because if I don't go on the training before a fight, then I will be sitting in my dressing room and thinking about that missed training or thinking ‘maybe I'm weak now.’ I’d think maybe I will lose because I missed that training.

I want to be fair with myself and I want to be open with myself before a fight. When you are in your dressing room, when you are a couple of days before the fight, you want to be confident. To be confident, you don't lose out on your training. If you start to miss your training, you will not be confident before the fight. 

You will look at the mirror and you will tell yourself maybe you will lose because you missed that training or you didn't do 10 rounds, you did five. If you did everything well, you will be confident. 

BOXRAW’s brand saying is ‘LFG’. How do you feel when you hear the phrase ‘Let’s Fucking Go!’? 

To be honest, it's a good motivation phrase. With a little bit swearing word but it means to work. It's about working. It means discipline. This is the one of important things to achieve something. Not only in the sport, everywhere. Discipline is better than talent, I think.

Win a signed Dmitry Bivol T-Shirt

Simply purchase anything from the BOXRAW x Bivol Collection by December 31st to automatically enter the draw for a chance to win a signed Dmitry Bivol t-shirt. Check the official BOXRAW Instagram on January 6th to see if you’ve won. Good luck!