As of the end of 2025, Dmitry Bivol was nominated for the prestigious "Fighter of the Year" award from the American publication The Ring. His rematch with Artur Beterbiev, who is also his compatriot, made the list of contenders for the title of "Fight of the Year." The awards ceremony will take place on January 30 in New York, as reported by the media.
This year, The Ring announced the nominees for its annual awards in eight categories. In addition to Bivol, the contenders for the title of "Fighter of the Year" include Americans Terence Crawford and Jesse Rodriguez, Japanese Naoya Inoue, and Englishman Fabio Wardley.
Dmitry Bivol is 35 years old. He holds titles from the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Organization (WBO), and World Boxing Association (WBA). His professional boxing record includes 24 wins (12 by knockout) and one loss. In 2022, he was awarded the title of Fighter of the Year by The Ring. In amateur boxing, Bivol became the champion of the World Martial Arts Games in 2013, a silver medalist at the Universiade the same year, and won the title of Russian champion twice (in 2012 and 2014), as well as a bronze medal at the Youth World Championship in 2008.
In the spring of 2022, Bivol lost the WBC title due to his refusal to defend against American David Benavidez, who became the new champion according to that organization. However, the WBO, WBA, and IBF, the belts of which Bivol holds, stated that they do not intend to strip him of his world champion title, emphasizing the importance of title defenses.
In February 2025, Bivol became the WBC world champion in the light heavyweight division, defeating Artur Beterbiev in a rematch that took place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight lasted all 12 rounds and ended with Bivol winning by majority decision (114-114, 116-112, 115-113). He also took the IBF and WBO titles from Beterbiev and regained the WBA belt that he previously held.
The February fight between Bivol and Beterbiev was nominated for the title of "Fight of the Year" by The Ring. Additionally, the official website of the magazine features a list of nominations in other categories, including "Fighter of the Year" for women, "Knockout of the Year," "Round of the Year," "Upset of the Year," "Trainer of the Year," and "Prospect of the Year." The awards ceremony will take place on January 30 in New York, just before The Ring 6 boxing evening scheduled for January 31 at the famous Madison Square Garden complex.
