Dmitry Bivol has no one to blame but himself.

It took years for an undisputed showdown against Artur Beterbiev to materialize. To a certain extent, he did most of the championship heavy lifting, aggregating three of the four world titles. Bivol though, wasn’t simply sitting around watching the clock tick by.

Wins over Canelo Alvarez and Zurdo Ramirez had plenty believing that his WBA title, along with the rest of the belts, would be going home with him. Ultimately, they were wrong.

Their first fight was close. Maybe even too close. Yet, no matter how many people believe he won, the three judges sitting ringside handed the victory to Beterbiev.

Bivol fought a masterful fight. He boxed when he wanted, moved when he needed to, and brawled when necessary. Although he fought like a star and did enough to win in the court of public opinion, Bivol is taking his defeat on the chin.

It might be easy to point a blaming finger at numerous people but instead of doing that, The Ring’s No. 1 ranked light heavyweight contender and former WBA champion, took a look in the mirror.

“I feel that I have to be much more better,” admitted Bivol during a Zoom interview with Fight Hub TV.

In a few weeks, the new wrinkles Bivol has been implementing into his game will be revealed when he takes on Beterbiev in their immediate rematch. Looking back now, serves no purpose but he does look at their first fight as somewhat of a warning.

On that particular night, Bivol fought a terrific fight but still found himself on the losing end. With part two approaching, he knows that he must make a victory more clear, even if that means dominating every second of every round against the current undisputed champion.

“I can’t leave some doubt for the judges. I have to be excellent.”