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Speaker 1: Well, it is my pleasure, but welcome back to our

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podcast the former light heavyweight champion Dimitri Devo. Dmitri, thank

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you very much for being back on the show with us.

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Speaker 2: Last time we.

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Speaker 1: Spoke, we were going into a huge fight for the

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undisputed title with Arthur Better Viev didn't go your way.

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Now you're getting ready for the rematch, so we're here

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to talk about it. That fight will take place February

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twenty second. It is the main event of a massive

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read season card, a tremendous card in Riad, Saudi Arabia.

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I know you're in Turkey now training for the fight, so, Dmitri,

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thank you very much for joining me. How's everything going

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getting ready for the rematch?

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Speaker 3: Thank you. Everything is going well. I'm in the good mood.

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We have good trainings and everything as well.

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Speaker 1: So before we get to the rematch, I want to

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just talk a little bit about the first fight that

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took place this past October. Great matchup one versus two

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for the undisputed championship. There hadn't been an undisputed champ

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in twenty five years since Roy Jones, and it was

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a really close fight, Dmitri. He ended up winning a

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majority decision, and I just wanted to know if you

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could describe to me just your your just your overall

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disappointment and not getting your hand raised that night.

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Speaker 3: You know, of course I was disappointed that I didn't win.

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It was my first lose, but generally I didn't like

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myself because I didn't do well. You know, if I

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look at myself, I could be better, but I wasn't,

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you know, And this is enough for me. I don't

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want to discuss something more. I just didn't like myself

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that night. It was some good moments, but it could

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be more. I could do more. And now I had

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to be focused on my second sight and I have

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to do much more. I have to create much more

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good moments.

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Speaker 2: How hard was it to kind of get over that? Did?

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Speaker 1: It takes a couple of days, a couple of weeks.

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Are are you still dealing with it.

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Speaker 3: Not? You know, in the beginning, I was like, Okay,

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this is my this is my life. I have to

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deal with this. Then I was okay. Then some some

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days I wasn't happy that I'm not a champion anymore,

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but not not too much. Thanks God, I didn't injure it.

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I didn't break my hand or something else. You know,

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I got experience and I got pretty much. It was fine.

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Speaker 1: So the fighter scores were one sixteen to one twelve,

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one fifteen to one thirteen in better B's favor. The

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other judge had it one fourteen to one fourteen, which,

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being honest, D meet you. That's how I scored the

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fighter draw. But I wonder do you view it as

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was the result controversial or was it just a really

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close fight that baby could have gotten either way and

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he just happened to be the guy that got it

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that night.

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Speaker 2: M seen.

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Speaker 3: In a boot disky boy. It was just it was

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a very close fight. And yeah, maybe he was more

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luck of more lucky in that day that his trial

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was much more better for judges, but it doesn't matter.

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He I didn't count rounds even when I was watching

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the fight, but my feelings was that, yeah I could

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I could do more.

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Speaker 1: So you've got so you've gone back and looked at

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the fight, but you've not actually scored it. I was

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gonna ask you, like, how did you score the fight?

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Speaker 3: No? No, no, I didn't. I didn't score it at all.

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I'm usually not scoring fights when i'm watching, even if

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somebody's fighting you know, I don't know how to explain.

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I'm just watching and I'm trying to find some moments,

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you know, which is nice, you know, some combinations like

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and I'm enjoying it, or I don't enjoy some combinations,

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or I can see some mistakes or some good moments.

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Just I'm watching fights like this.

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Speaker 1: So you said a few times you needed that you

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needed to do more, and I and I you know,

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I thought you fought a hell of a fight.

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Speaker 2: I thought that he fought a very good fight.

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Speaker 1: Also, so when you say you needed to do more,

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I wonder if you could be a little more specific

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about the kinds of things you need to do more.

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Speaker 3: I need to I need to target. Yeah, hope, I

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said bush and more. I need to be more precise.

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I don't want to say more direct things, but generally,

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I just need to do more to everybody not questioning

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who's the winner of this fight. I want to I

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want to be like, oh, this fight is finished, and

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even the people could turn off the TV because they

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know who win this fight.

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Speaker 1: You know, going into the bout, Dimitri, he was the

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only champion in boxing with a perfect knockout record. You know,

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were you at least proud to have stopped the great

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knockout record that this man had.

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Speaker 2: Uh and how was it? How was his power?

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Speaker 3: I'm not proud because I should win this fight. You know.

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I came not to to lose the fight. I came

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to win this fight. I had only this in my head. Uh.

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Speaker 2: How was his power?

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Speaker 3: He's very strong, Yeah, his his natural power is or

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really he's strong. He's like his feist, like his fist.

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Speaker 2: Uh, very heavy, best puncher you've been hit by in

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your career?

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Speaker 3: Uh uh heavy pint, the best heavy pine ser Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So when the fight was over, Turkey alshk from Saudi Arabia,

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of course he oversees all the real season events, said

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to some reporters that he thought that you were the

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winner by two rounds, that you should have had your

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hand raised, and that he wanted to do the rematch.

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And so what did it mean to you in that

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moment to have the support from from him, to know

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that he probably.

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Speaker 3: It means a lot. It means that I gonna have

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another chance, you know. And I appreciate so much to

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Kalouse for this move, for his for what he's doing,

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and I think even both kingsens wants to see another fight.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.

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Speaker 1: Uh so when when I know right after the fight,

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you know, your team petitioned the organizations to make sure

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that they would order a rematch, because at that moment

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it wasn't one hundred percent necessarily that you would get

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the rematch right away. Obviously that did happen because Arthur

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was fine to fight you again. He said, no problem.

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If that's what Turkey wanted, he would have he would

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give you another fight. But the organizations, well, they didn't

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have to go through the process to order the match.

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As it turns out, all four belts are going to

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be a stake again. So I wonder, like, how much

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is it meaning to you not only to get the

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rematch to try to avenge the loss, but also have

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all the belts at stake to live the dream if

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you can win to be undisputed.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's also appreciate to all organizations that they support

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this decision about very much. And it was really it

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was really hard work for my team. I mean for

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my manager Vadim, he was he was dealing with this

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a lot. I wasn't interfering this stuff because it's not

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my job. My job as being the gym. But all

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of this Wajim took, Calo Shay promoter, Eddie Hearn and

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all organizations. They came to a conclusion, came to a conclusion,

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and this is what we see today that we will

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have very much with the.

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Speaker 2: Right. So did I lose you?

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Speaker 3: You you froze?

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Speaker 2: There we go.

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Speaker 1: Uh, let me just follow up with that, then, Dmitri,

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what would it be? So I know how important we

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talked in the interview before the first fight, how big

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it would be to become undisputed champion. I wonder how

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much more meaning would it have for you to not

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only become the undisputed champion, but to do so by

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avenging your only loss.

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Speaker 3: To be honest, I didn't want to be to have ah.

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I wanted to be zero in my loss. It just

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it's destroyed my record, you know. And then now I

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cannot I cannot change anything what happened. But it's I

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just need to take revenge. Of course, it will be

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good for myself, just for my personality that I can

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take revenge now. And then also Bells of course sure knowledge.

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Speaker 2: So he's he just turned forty years old in the

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last few days.

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Speaker 1: As we're doing this interview, and he's coming back to

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fight you for the rematch only four months after your

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first fight, so and he hasn't had that kind of

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turnaround with two fights so close together. I looked at

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his record. You have to go all the way back

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to twenty fifteen, when he was just in the very

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early stages of his professional career, and I thought to myself,

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do you think that that might be an advantage for

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you to force an older fighter back into the ring

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so quickly where he maybe hasn't had the kind of

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rest that he's used to after fights.

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Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't think about this every time

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when I'm in my camp. I think that my opponent

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is the best upon in the best shape, doesn't matter

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he's forty years old, fifty years old, he's young, or

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I'm trying to think that he's in the best shape

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and on the camp, I'm not trying to be to

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be better than forty years old man, or to be

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better than better before somebody else. I'm trying to be

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better than me before. You know, I'm trying to think

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about this and not taking this advantage and putting in

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my head and training with this. No, I'm not thinking

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about it.

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Speaker 2: I understand that.

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Speaker 1: And do you allow yourself at all to think about

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you know, if you are the winner and you are

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the underspeeded champion, what you would want to do after that?

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Speaker 2: Perhaps a third fight.

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Speaker 1: Maybe whoever emerges from bena Vide's and moral they're going

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to be the mandatory challenger.

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Speaker 3: To be honest, today I was running, uh, and I

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was thinking about I always think that this is my

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last fight. It's it's kind of on my last fight,

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and I have to be focused on this fight. But

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also I have some small plan behind behind it. Yeah

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that after the fight, I will like like before, Yeah,

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after the fight against like Malex do not, I will

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have Arthur better Be fight I have, but I have

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to be focused on the not but with better Be fight.

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I didn't have this like future plan, you know. And

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now I was running and I was thinking, what, what's what?

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What I have to put something more fun? Maybe I

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will move to wait? Why not?

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Speaker 1: Oh, is that is that of interest to you? Because

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there's good fighters in that white class. Opataia is involved

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with the read season. He's up there fighting Saudi Arabia.

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Speaker 3: Why not? I have to have some goal for the

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future also because and the goal should be with belts.

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Of course I want to have belts. I cannot go

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down now because there is already busy everybody with with

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belts like Canela Crawford, and they have their own business

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and I'm not sure about what's going on there, and

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maybe I have to think about cruisier weight, like just

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tell ittle bit. I just have to put.

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Speaker 2: This well, I mean the plan in motion.

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Speaker 1: It seems as though with better with Opataia and with

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Zerdo Ramirez both boxing on Saudi cards. I know Turkey

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is looking to make that match for later in the year,

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and whoever mergers from there, if you're the under spirit

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of light heavyweight champion, there you go. Humongous fight, don't

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you think?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? Why why why not here? Why why not? If

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another fighters could move, why I cannot? I can also,

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But first of all, I have to think about very much.

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Speaker 2: And of course, uh yes, no doubt about it.

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Speaker 1: And uh like I said, if it's a great matchup

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with you and Arthur, maybe you do a third fight

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with him. Maybe maybe also it could be yeah, but

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we're not going to know any of that until we

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see what happens in the rematch it takes place on

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February twenty seconds.

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Speaker 2: I know you're getting ready for that.

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Speaker 1: Like I said, I appreciate taking some time out of

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a camp to talk to me today. Very much appreciate it.

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I wish you're the best of luck in the fight, Dmitrie,

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much appreciated.

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Speaker 3: Thank you them, Thank you ribly. Dave