Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (21-1, 14 KOs) discusses Saturday’s challenge against WBA world champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. The bout will be the co-main event on the Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev vs. Igor Mikhalkin HBO World Championship Boxing telecast.
[On fighting in a title bout] “This would be a very important victory obviously because I want to look to the future after this. It would be a dream come true to win the title. And we would see what happens after that. There are a lot of big names out there.”
[His plan fighting Bivol] “Bivol is a good fighter and it is known that he has speed but we have a plan to adjust to the speed and take it away. We are going to impose ourselves and use our abilities.”
[His thoughts on Bivol] “Bivol is the champ and he has to be respected as such but I have fought big names before and that’s going to give me an edge. I have been there before, fighting in big fights.”
[Regarding adversity and coming back from knockdowns] “Things happen in a fight but you can see every time that it has happened the switch has gone on and activated me and I become a lot more dangerous. Obviously, that’s not the plan that it happens in any fight and we hope it doesn’t happen in this fight either. I know the crowd likes the drama and the excitement of it and it’s worked in our favor every time.”
[What’s next?] “After March 3rd, when I get the belt, I’m ready, I’m ready right now for everyone, open for everyone. I’m a fighter and open to fight everybody. I’m a throwback fighter. I’m not thinking about sitting down. Of course, things need to be done right financial-wise but I am willing to fight anybody.”
[His strategy for Bivol] “Obviously, we can’t reveal our strategy and our plan, but I can tell you we are going to go out there 100% and leave it all out there in the ring to get the victory.”