Who won Bivol vs Smith Jr?

Dmitry Bivol beat Joe Smith Jr by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday 9th March 2019 at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in New York.

The scorecards were announced as 119-109, 119-109, 118-110 in favor of winner Dmitry Bivol.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Cruiserweight division, which meant the weight limit was 200 pounds (14.3 stone or 90.7 KG).

This contest was for the vacant WBA cruiserweight championship of the world.

Also, on the undercard Callum Johnson was victorious over Sean Monaghan, Maurice Hooker beat Mikkel LesPierre for the WBO World Junior Welterweight belt and Sergey Kuzmin defeated Joey Dawejko.

Bivol vs Smith Jr stats

Dmitry Bivol stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 15 wins, zero loses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Joe Smith Jr made his way to the ring with a record of 24 wins, 2 loses and 0 draws, with 20 of those wins by knock out.

The stats suggested Smith Jr had a slight advantage in power over Bivol, with a 83% knock out percentage over Bivol's 73%.

Dmitry Bivol was the younger man by 1 year, at 32 years old.

Both Dmitry Bivol & Joe Smith Jr fought out of an orthodox stance.

Bivol was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 11 less fights, and made his debut in 2014, 5 year later than Smith Jr, whose first professional fight was in 2009. He had fought 26 more professional rounds, 172 to Smith Jr's 146.

Bivol vs Smith Jr form

Bivol remained undefeated as a professional.

In his last fight before this contest, he had beat Canelo Alvarez on 7th May 2022 by unanimous decision in their WBA Super World Light Heavyweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had beat Umar Salamov on 11th December 2021 by unanimous decision in their WBA Super World Light Heavyweight championship fight at KRK “Uralets”, Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Going into that contest, he had won against Craig Richards on 1st May 2021 by unanimous decision in their WBA Super World Light Heavyweight championship fight at Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Before that, he had beat Lenin Castillo on 12th October 2019 by unanimous decision in their WBA Super World Light Heavyweight championship fight at Wintrust Arena, Illinois, United States.

He had defeated Joe Smith Jr on 9th March 2019 by unanimous decision in their WBA World Light Heavyweight championship fight at Turning Stone Resort & Casino, New York.

Smith Jr had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 3 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Sullivan Barrera on 15th July 2017 by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Forum, Inglewood, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Bernard Hopkins on 17th December 2016 by knockout in the 8th round at Forum, Inglewood.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Andrzej Fonfara on 18th June 2016 by technical knockout in the 1st round at UIC Pavilion, Chicago.

Before that, he had beat Fabiano Pena on 23rd April 2016 by technical knockout in the 2nd round at Paramount Theatre, Huntington.

He had won against Will Rosinsky on 5th December 2015 by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Barclays Center, New York.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Dmitry Bivol had been fighting more than Joe Smith Jr.

Going to this contest, Dmitry Bivol had last fought 8 months and 22 days ago, while Joe Smith Jr's last outing had been 5 years, 6 months and 14 days ago.

Bivol's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 10 months and 20 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 11 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 60 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 12 rounds on average.

Smith Jr's last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 1 month and 24 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 6 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 31 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 6.2 rounds on average.

What time did Bivol vs Smith Jr start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 11:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM PST at Turning Stone Resort & Casino, New York, United States, which was around 4:00 AM GMT in the UK.

Who broadcast Bivol vs Smith Jr?

Bivol vs Smith Jr was broadcast on DAZN in the US, while the fight was broadcast in the United Kingdom by Sky Sports Action.

What were the odds on Bivol vs Smith Jr?

Dmitry Bivol was a 1/25 (-2500) favourite going into the contest, while Joe Smith Jr made his way into the ring at 107/10 (+1100) with oddsmakers.