The sight of the belt he used to hold now in the possession of his lone conqueror served little as a reminder.

Dmitry Bivol knew from the moment the majority decision in Artur Beterbiev’s favor last October that he had to immediately run it back. It’s no longer about just wearing the crown; more so the satisfaction in proving he is the best light heavyweight on the planet.

“Before I so badly wanted the belts and nothing else,” Bivol noted of his shot at revenge while speaking at Monday’s press conference at Outernet London. “Today, I want not just only the belts. I want revenge. I want to fix what I did before.

“I want to win, not just the belts. It’s not just about the belts now.”

Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) will enter the ring as the challenger for Beterbiev’s RING and undisputed light heavyweight championship ahead of their Feb. 22 rematch. The sequel will take place at the same site of their memorable first clash, the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Their previous battle was a summit meeting between two of the longest-reigning titleholders in the sport. Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) held the IBF title since Nov. 2017—just one week later than when Bivol first upgraded his WBA light heavyweight title.

Beterbiev also owned the WBC and WBO belts at the time.

An even verdict on the card of judge Manuel Oliver Palomo (114-114) was overruled by judges Pawel Kardyni (116-112) and Glenn Feldman (115-113) in favor of the unbeaten Russian in his first career distance fight. He collected the WBA title and The Ring light heavyweight championship with the historic win last fall.

To this day, Bivol and his team believed they deserved the decision. The 34-year-old Kyrgyzstan-born boxer gets the next best thing—an immediate chance to avenge his lone career defeat.

"This a good chance for me,” noted Bivol. “I know people liked the first fight and they want to see this second fight. Also, I want to make second fight and I want to be winner.

“I need to change enough to prove that I’m better. I need to add more actions. We already changed a little bit with our training camp. Now I’m working on myself. I want to be better. I want to be perfect and I’m trying to be.”