Dmitry Bivol fears he won't receive his $5million purse for his upset victory over Canelo Alvarez earlier this month.
The Russian dominated the pound-for-pound great for large parts of their Las Vegas clash before being awarded victory by a two-round margin. Bivol retained his light-heavyweight world title in the process after becoming just the second man after Floyd Mayweather to defeat the Mexican.
Bivol is believed to have agreed to a $5m purse, significantly less than Alvarez's previous opponents, but admitted he has yet to receive the fee due to sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. "I was willing to earn a lot less just to get this fight. I needed this fight, it was the No.1 task, he told the TASS news agency.
"I think it's very difficult [to be paid]. I haven't faced this challenge yet because it hasn't arrived yet. We are still thinking about how to do it. We didn't think ahead because the situation is changing rapidly. I didn't even think about it and said to my manager: 'Vadim [Kornilov], come on, this will be your headache'."
Alvarez insisted on a rematch clause ahead of his defeat by Bivol and said in the immediate aftermath that he intended to pursue a second fight. But Bivol is unsure whether there will be a sequel, adding: "I have a clause in my contract, according to which I am obliged to give Alvarez a rematch.
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"We did not prescribe the conditions in advance, and this is good, I don’t even think about future plans now. Before each fight, I tune in and think that this is my last fight. Yes, there are some vague plans, but I am always in the mood as if this is the last fight."
Alvarez could instead pursue a trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin after their third meeting was pencilled in for September 18 on the proviso Alvarez was successful against Bivol. Golovkin had held up his end of the bargain by stopping Ryota Murata in their super-middleweight unification clash last month.
