Bivol's sparring partner: "He was even stronger than I thought"

Saul Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol

American Alexis Espino (9-0-1, 6 KOs) was one of the main sparring partners of the WBA world light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) ahead of his Las Vegas fight tomorrow against ...

“I spent four weeks of sparring with Bivol and returned to my gym. What did I get from sparring with a champion? I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know it would be so hard. He has more strength in his fists than I thought. He works very well with the left straight and he is very fast. In my opinion, he poses a much bigger threat to Canelo than Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant,” said Espino, who will face Mexican Aaron Silva (9-0, 6 KOs) on the Canelo-Bivol undercard.

“Bivol can win, he has a real chance of it. Many consider this a cakewalk for Canelo, but it's not that easy," added the 22-year-old boxer from Las Vegas.