WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) showed his killer instinct by scoring a sixth-round TKO victory over Malik Zinad (22-1, 16 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bivol saw an opening after landing a crushing left hook in the sixth and, after seeing Zinad hurt, jumped all over him to force the referee to stop the fight. The fight began as a jab fest for both fighters, but as soon as Zinad opened up, Bivol landed a straight left, which sent Zinad down for the first knockdown of the fight.
The second round continued the jab theme between the two fighters; however, Bivol’s shots were making more of an impact as Zinad’s nose was busted up and bleeding. Rd 3 Zinad used good head movement and a left jab to keep Bivol off of him throughout the third round. Bivol used his jab effectively but struggled trying to get inside and do damage.
The fourth round was almost identical to the third as Bivol kept hopping on his toes and landing his left jab in spots while Zinad used a jab of his own successfully. The fifth round saw Bivol taking more control of the fight, but at the end of the round, both fighters put their head together in a headbutt fashion, which appeared to have angered Bivol a bit. When Bviol came out for the sixth round, he was more determined and when his left hook landed, it was the beginning of the end for Zinad.
The onslaught followed, leading to the referee’s stoppage. During the post-fight interview inside the ring, Turki Alalshikh announced tha.