Speaker 1: Well, it is my great pleasure to welcome back to
our podcast. For this episode, it's none other than the
WBA light Heavyweight Champion, Dimitridivo Dmitri. We're here to talk
about you have a big, huge fight, a historic fight,
a fight that I know you have wanted for a
very long time.
Speaker 2: It is here.
Speaker 1: You'll be fighting against Arthur better BEV, who was the
lineal champion, also has the other three titles that you
would like to own for the undisputed light Heavyweight Championship.
It will take place October twelfth on a Read Season card,
the card that opens the new Read Season festival in Riad,
Saudi Arabia in the United States. The fight is live
on ESPN Plus. Thank you very much, my understanding. As
you went directly from your press conference with better BV
that was in London, directly to Read to finish out
your training camp in Saudi Arabia, how has that been
going for you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, everything was good. We came here, we already to
start training. We are going to nice juam and we
have a nice mood. Everything is good.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned, Dimitri, I know how significant this fight
has been. It's a fight that you and your opponent,
Arthur Better BF have both wanted for a while. You
both have held versions of the light heavyweight title for
quite a while, and now this is to set all
the issue of who is number one. So my main
question to start off with is what would it mean
to you to become the first ever four belt light
heavyweight champion, the undisputed champ, the lineal champ, have no
more belts to collect?
Speaker 2: You Sure it could be first. It wasn't Roy Jones
before in two thousand fall.
Speaker 1: Maybe well, you'll you'll be the first. I'm going to
get to a question about Roy Jones, but you'll be
the first, or if he wins of the four belts
time to have all the four.
Speaker 2: Belts that time it was three belts. Yeah, yes, sir, Okay, okay, okay.
You know it means a lot. It means you know,
it's just the final step in my career. I'm in
boxing since nineteen ninety six and all this journey was
for was for this to get this chance and to win,
and I will try to do all my best. Of course,
it means a lot. I don't want to even think
about it to go because when I start thinking about it,
I have a goose bump. I'm just trying to think
about only the fight, only the because the fight also
is really exciting for me because he's the most dangerous
fighter with one hundred percent KO and for me, it's
exciting to try my skills against this guy. And I'm
trying to think about this not about belts.
Speaker 1: Well, like you mentioned Roy Jones, I have to ask
you about the historical nature of the fight. Roy Jones
became the undisputed light heavyweight champion. That was still when
it was three belts that were considered to be undisputed.
There was the fourth belt, but nobody thought you had
to have that to be called the undisputed champ. And
so when he did that, it was nineteen ninety nine
against Reggie Johnson, and he unified the three belts. Dmitri,
that is twenty five years ago. It hasn't happened since.
So when I tell you that, what do you think
about the nature of that historical aspect of this fight
that one of you two guys is about to accomplish.
Speaker 2: Of course, I'm thinking that it's amazing that I could
be a part of the history. I could mark my
name and the history. Of course, it's amazing. It's a
bonus for fighters who is working hard, because it's just
kind of a luck. You know, a lot of fighters
are working hard, but the luck is not giving them
the chance like this. But I got it, and I
so appreciate to universe. I don't know, but I appreciate
to be the part of historical fight.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm certainly glad that it's happening, but it was
supposed to have happened, as you know, on June first,
and unfortunately your opponent, Arthur better Be I've suffered a
knee injury. He was forced to postpone the fight, And
I'm wondering, you know, you were you were hard in training,
he was hard in training. You're getting ready for the fight.
How was it to deal with just mentally, to like
know the work you'd put in and now all of
a sudden it's it's delayed again. You've been waiting for
it for a long time, and you've got to now
go through another couple of months and start over again
really preparing for the fight.
Speaker 2: To be honest, I'm trying to think positive about everything.
What's happening. Would me at that time? I just okay,
he injured this is sport, this is boxing, it's professional sport.
It could be laid this. I just need to not
be stuck in this point. I have to move forward
and I will give this chance again. And I got
another fight. I checked my skills and I trained more.
Maybe it's it's for better.
Speaker 1: So like you said, you went through and you fought anyway,
you stayed active. They were able to get you into
opponent for that June first card. They just you know,
instead of being in the main event, they moved you
down some of those other fights, took pressent over that,
and you scored a pretty impressive six round knockout against
maliks In not I just wondered, before you got into
the fight, when you knew that the fight between yourself
and Arthur was postponed. At any time, did you consider
not fighting and not risking the fight because you never
know what's gonna happen when the bell rings. You could
get injured, you could get cut, you could lose, and
there goes the undisputed fight.
Speaker 2: To be honest, I didn't worry too much about it
because I just was focused on the fight on my leak,
to be honest, and I didn't know what in his head,
he could be very serious to this fight, or she
could even win win. Yeah, because he's young, he's he
never lost and will. I didn't think too much about
better beef fights that time. When I realized that the
fight is the postponed, I just forget, forgot about Bitter Beef,
and I was thinking about Malik, and I didn't have
anything in my mind. This is how I'm trying to
think always. If you were thinking about Malique, about the
Bitter Beef, about somebody else, you were just fighting in
your head against the three two guys. You know you
should do it. You should think about on the one.
Speaker 1: So when you fought, when you fought my leak, I mean,
you got your first knockout since twenty eighteen, you had
got nine fights without a knockout. I've seen you score
some very nice knockouts. I wonder how satisfying it was
it to get back in a knockout on your record.
And were you at all sort of ever concerned that
you'd been, you know, such a while without getting a knockout?
Speaker 2: Uh, you know, you know I was trying to I'm sorry,
somebody was calling. You know. I didn't think too much
about about knockouts. I was just focused more about to
be winner of each fight which I got, and to
be active and to be available for the chance when
I give it, when I have it, I just have
to be ready for the chance, like like this time,
I got a chance, and I'm ready. I have my belt,
I have my health, and I can I can fight.
I didn't worry about no cuts or not no cuts.
Speaker 1: You did mention a minute ago about how you know
you wanted to test your skills against him, especially because
he is a fighter who has one hundred percent knockout percentage.
He's knocked out all twenty opponents that he has faced
as the professional. Now, I know you haven't hit by
him yet, but I assume you're familiar with the record.
I guess you probably have watched at least a little
bit of him on video. I just wonder before you
face him, when you see that knockout, the number of knockouts,
he asked, how do you in your mind assess his
power between that and maybe what you have seen if
you've watched any videos of him.
Speaker 2: He's he's really strong. He born to be strong. You know,
some people are born with good speed, with good movements,
with good something. But he born just strong guy. It's
not even about his punch. His body is strong. If
you look at him, how he moves, how he is,
how he's wrestling, when he's in the clinch, you can
see that he's just strong and and what you I
just need to deal with this.
Speaker 1: I've watched him. You push ups on his fingertips. You
can tell he's strong.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, he's doing a lot of things which shows
that he's strong. But you could you could see it
just on the ring that he's strong.
Speaker 1: So of all the all the fighters you have faced,
and Demeter, you have faced a lot of outstanding fighters
in your career. Who has hit you the hardest so far?
I think maybe like Joe Smith comes to mind.
Speaker 2: Maybe you know, there is a different strong punches, you know,
like with the With the Smith, it's like heavy, just
heavy punches, you know, slow heavy, but it's hurting. With Pascal,
he's more explos explosive, you know, and sharp sharp, heavy
sharp strong with better beefs. He's just not like heavy.
He's just like stones. His arms like like some concrete arms.
Speaker 1: It looks like so he you know, we know how
good he is because we've seen him also against top opponents.
You have the common opponent of Joe Smith, who we
knocked out very easily. You know what, you went very
deep into that fight. But he is thirty nine years old.
He has been more inactive than you and I wonder
and he's had injury issues. Have you noticed any slippage
in him or do you expect to see a to
meet an Arthur Bitterbie at the absolute top of his
game when you get.
Speaker 2: In the ring with him. Of course, I'm trying to
think about that he will be in the best shape
because it's just respects to the opponent.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, I wanted to ask you. I mean,
this was sort of interesting to me. Is just just
not that long ago. We had Canelo Alvarez. He fought
his fight, defended the super middleweight title against u Berlanga
on September fourteenth, and what he said after that fight
was he wanted to stay in the super middleweight division.
He didn't have any desire to go back to light
heavyweight except if you were to beat Arthur better Beef
to get a shot at you for the undisputed title
in a rematch. Obviously, I know you got a very
significant fight that's sitting right in front of you. But
in the back of your mind. I know there was
conversations about you and Canelo having a rematch. At one
point it didn't happen. Are you open to a rematch
if you're the victor in this fight and doing it
in defense of your titles at one hundred and thirty
five pounds.
Speaker 2: You know, we didn't talk with him at all about
very much. We didn't have any conversations. He didn't have
any conversations with our team, but he was talking about it.
And now it's the same she's saying, but will she
I need to fight against Bitter B and then we
will see some options. What will happen. I hope I
will win. I will try to do all my best,
But now I'm focused on Bitter B fight for the Canala.
I'm open for everybody who wants to make big fights.
I was opened before and I will be opened after.
Speaker 1: Also, my recollection, Demeter, is that when you were open
to that before, though he wanted to fight you at
one hundred and seventy five, your thought was, you know what,
I'd like to fight him again, but do it at
one hundred and sixty eight to try to become the
underspeted champ in the one sixty eight well way class.
So when you say you're open to it, are you
open to it at one hundred and seventy five pounds?
Speaker 2: Doesn't matter, you know, one hundred and seventy five, one
sixty I was talking about this on media. Yeah, I
prefer to fight one six state for his belt. But
how we all know, how how how do you am
making in boxing? There were no negotiations at all. You
know you're saying on the on the media that you know,
fight once sixty, but let's let's talk about one seventy
this is our offer for you or something. We didn't
have this, We didn't discuss, discuss anything, and it just
just nothing. We just know it's useless to talk about it.
Speaker 1: You know, now, when a when a when a fighter
becomes the undisputed champion, I know you have every intention
of doing that by beating better be off because you
got all the belts. You also got all the mandatories
and all the other guys that you that the organizations
want you to fight, and you'll be you'll be uh
at some point, I guess you have you know, a
very deep group of opponents, because you've got other guys
with interim and regular titles. That's David Morrell and Bwatzi
who just got an interim title, and obviously David Benavitez
is there. When you look at the landscape of your
weight class, besides yourself and Better bef who do you
think stands out as guys that could you know, be
a challenge to you at some point in the future.
Speaker 2: This names to which you say, of course, all these guys,
it could be my opponents in the future, just the
one of the best fighters in our weight division, in
our weight class, of course it could be.
Speaker 1: So I want to just wrap up with this. When
I think about the match between yourself and better Bev
and the way that it might go looking at it
from the outside, I think the general thought from many people,
as you know, as we've talked about Arthur betder Biev
just a massive puncher, great knockout artist, really strong, as
you saw talked about. And then there's Dmitri Bevl can
punch a little bit, certainly, but but really more well
known for just great skills, good defense, you know, quick hands,
and that it's sort of like whichever guy can impose
their style that it would come down to either he
can knock you out or Dmitri Bevo can out box him.
I wonder your thoughts about how you think that the
fight goes, and if that description you know is the same,
is what you think the way the fib will go.
Your skills and great boxing ability against his tremendous punching power.
Speaker 2: Uh. You know, in my head a lot of different scenarios. Uh.
And that which you said he could knock me out
or I could out boxing. Of course there is also
uh and everything could happen. This is boxing. But the
main thing that I have to be the best version
of the miteri bigo. I cannot create anything new. Just
be realistic. He cannot create anything new for this short time.
M hm. We will just be ourselves and the ring
and we will win that one who's small focus and
who who feels himself better in this At this day.
Speaker 1: I understand that. Well, I have to tell you to
meet you. I've been saying this for a long time,
ever since this fight was made that to me, this
is the best boxing match on the boxing calendar for
the entire year of twenty twenty four, And there's been
a lot of tremendous matchups, so I'm really looking forward
to it. I wish you the best of luck in
the fight, and I really thank you for doing this.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Then,