One of boxing premiere prospects in 26 year old Dimitry Bivol (9-0, 7 KOs) of Kyrgyzstan via Russia makes his US television debut against Samuel Clarkson (19-3, 12 KOs) Friday night on Shobox in the same Maryland venue that Lomachenko/Sosa opened for boxing last weekend. Bivol was an elite amateur fighter for the Russian national team, posting 285 wins in exactly 300 career amateur fights. Clarkson is on a hot streak of his own and would normally represent a very stiff test for a 9-0 fighter, but Bivol is not a normal prospect.
Samuel Clarkson is a good fighter whose career has strangely stalled out a bit. He started 10-3, but has since broken off nine straight wins. These wins included a breakout 2015 which saw him outpoint former title challenger and then 27-1 Cedric Agnew. Later in the year he won twice on ShoBox with early stoppages over Lavern Harvell and ShoBox staple Jerry Odom. In 2016, however, nothing. Clarkson fought twice against fighters with losing records. Maybe he was holding out for a bigger opportunity and just staying busy, but if that was the case he only did sort of well in finding one. He is unlikely to beat Bivol, but should he this fight is for an imaginary belt the WBA cooked up. The winner will likely soon be mandated to fight either Nathan Cleverly or Andre Ward.
Dimitry Bivol is a legitimate blue chipper. The reason he has no big amateur championship wins is because on the Russian National Team he was stuck behind 2012 Olympic gold medalist Egor Mekhontsev, a prospect now in his own right. Bivol is coming off a four round demolition of Australian Robert Berridge, a man who had made it the distance in losses to Eleider Alvarez and Thomas Oosthuizen. While the belt the WBA put on him in that fight is illegitimate, his talent is undeniable. Bivol has quick hands for a light heavyweight and packs some pop, but it is his timing that is beyond his years. He especially likes to try to find quick, counter left hooks while pressuring. He is also adept at finding the mark with lead straight rights. Only two things are stopping Bivol from being the complete package: First, he fights with his head on a straight line. Clarkson will no doubt try to take advantage of this. Second, like all prospects, he needs more seasoning against higher levels of competition. His amateur pedigree does mitigate the last point somewhat.
Also on the card, Baltimore welterweight prospect Malik Hawkins (10-0, 7 KOs) takes on late replacement Carlos Soto (13-0-2, 7 KOs) of Mexico. Hawkins has been pretty regularly fighting on small Greg Cohen promoted CBS Sports Net cards, so he has had some minor exposure. He is still really young at 21 and remains able to make 147 despite his 6′ tall, lanky frame thanks to that youth. He likes to work from distance, but does flail a bit from time to time. This hasn’t matter though as Hawkins has been completely unchallenged in his career thus far, taking on opponents with a combined record of 32-69-9. His opponent, Carlos Soto, is a complete unknown and has done only marginally better in the opponent record game. He is fresh off a three year layoff having returned in February and has never fought outside of Mexico. Still, given his unbeaten record, this is a step up for both fighters and a proper ShoBox fight.
Opening the card will be another local Baltimore prospect in 8-0 (6 KOs) Glenn Dezurn against Leroy Davila (5-0, 3 KOs) of New Jersey at junior lightweight. This will be the first fight with any exposure for both fighters.
Off air Hasim Rahman Jr, son of who you would expect, makes his pro debut.
