The WBO has banned the Russian boxer Bivol from defending his title due to the war against Ukraine
This is according to The Ring.
The World Boxing Organisation has banned Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol from defending his WBO light-heavyweight world title.
The decision was prompted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is stated in a letter from WBO President Gustavo Olivieri, which was received by The Ring.
“This decision has been taken due to the Russian Federation’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine,” the letter states.
However, the WBO will not strip Bivol of his title.
The Russian boxer is the light-heavyweight world champion according to three organisations – the WBO, WBA and IBF.
Bivol’s next title fight against German boxer Michael Eifert is scheduled for 30 May.
However, only two of the three world championship belts will be on the line.
The fight is scheduled to take place at the UMMC Arena in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Dmitry Bivol is 35 years old. He lives in St Petersburg.
In The Ring’s rankings of light-heavyweight boxers, Bivol is ranked 5th.
He last stepped into the ring in February last year in Riyadh.
In March 2022, at a press conference ahead of his fight against Canelo Alvarez, Bivol described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “very sad event”. It was
previously reported that in March, the War&Sanctions portal published information on a further six Russian athletes involved in the war against Ukraine.
As reported by ThePublic, the Ukrainian Football Association has sacked Serhiy Rebrov from his position as head coach of the Ukrainian national team. The UAF has not yet named his successor, but Paula Fonseca, Myron Markevych, Ruslan Rotan, Unai Melgosa and Andrea Maldera are mentioned among the possible candidates.
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