Dmitry Bivol, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but has long resided in St. Petersburg, Russia, is preparing for a fight with boxing’s top star, Canelo Alvarez, but is painfully aware of the situation at home.

Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) recently arrived in the U.S., from Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and remains at war. The 31-year-old will remain stateside and train in Indio, California, ahead of his WBA light heavyweight title defense against Canelo on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I have a lot of friends in Ukraine,” Bivol said Wednesday in San Diego at the kick-off news conference to promote the fight. “I have a lot of friends in Russia. My family is in Russia.”

Bivol, whose parents moved to St. Petersburg when he was 11 years old, added that he has “a lot of friends everywhere” and wishes them “only peace and only the best.”

“It’s really sad for me,” he said. “Every day I wake up and read the news and I hope it will stop.”

The WBA, whose 175-pound title Bivol has held since November 2017, announced several sanctions on Monday in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Among them, Russian and Belarusian boxers won’t be allowed to enter the ring with their flag, the national anthem won’t be played, and the boxer’s country won’t be named.

Additionally, no officials from Russia or Belarus will be allowed to work title fights.

Bivol, ESPN’s No. 2 light heavyweight, is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Umar Salamov in December in Russia. A crafty boxer who’s adept at controlling range, Bivol will Canelo’s second fight at 175 pounds.

The 31-year-old Mexican, ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, is the undisputed 168-pound champion but is returning to light heavyweight for the first bout of his new multi-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn.

If Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) can regain a light heavyweight title, and Gennadiy Golovkin can defeat Ryota Murata on April 9 in Japan, Canelo and GGG will meet for a third time on Sept. 17 on DAZN PPV.

ESPN Boxing