Russian sanctions mean it's 'very difficult' to receive $5 million Canelo payday, Dmitry Bivol says
- Russian fighter Dmitry Bivol scored one of the biggest upset wins in boxing this year.
- But the Canelo conqueror claimed in an interview this week that he has yet to be paid.
- He suggested it might be because of Russia's "current situation" in Ukraine.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez conqueror Dmitry Bivol said he's yet to get paid for scoring one of the biggest boxing upsets of the year on Saturday in Las Vegas.
"It hasn't arrived yet," he told the Tass agency in Russia.
Bivol, a Kyrgyzstan-born Russian who trains in California but lives in St. Petersburg, was not permitted to carry his national flag into the T-Mobile Arena, or sing the Russian national anthem, as previously reported by Insider.
Russian sportspeople have been slapped with a variety of sanctions in light of Russian's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and, in the months since, more than 12 million people have been displaced as multiple cities in that country have been shelled. More than 3,000 civilians have been killed there, according to the UN.
Sporting organizations FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian soccer clubs and national teams from their competitions "in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine." Other sports, including tennis, swimming, and F1 have taken similar steps.
Tass asked Bivol in Russian whether it is "technically difficult" to "get a fee for this fight in light of the current situation."
"I think it's very difficult," said Bivol, before adding that the fee for the fight hadn't yet arrived.
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Note: It's standard for the national anthem of each fighter to be played before a bout, but the Russian national anthem was disallowed for this match, and the Russian flag was banned. Bivol always had the Russian flag on his trunk, but I didn't see it in this bout, so apparently that was banned too. Canelo Alvarez was considered the best pound-for-pound boxer, so in beating him, Bivol annihilated a legend. Let's hope the American criminals won't cheat him out of his purse. It has come to this. Russians were even sent home from the Special Olympics!
Before the match, Bivol said, "First of all, I want to say that we all have to be proud where we from. Doesn't matter — from Kyrgyzstan, from Moldova, from Africa, from England, or everywhere. We have to be proud where we from."
Makes perfect sense to me.
How many American athletes have been sanctioned because of their perennially genocidal government?
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