Bivol is yet to be paid after defeating 'Canelo' Alvarez

Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol is yet to be paid his share of the purse after his win over Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in Las Vegas on May 8 due to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Bivol, 31, produced a consummate performance to beat Canelo in at the T-Mobile arena in Vegas via a unanimous decision from the judges who all scored the fight 115-113.

In what proved to be an extremely high grossing bout, Bivol went into the fight guaranteed £1.6m with 30 per cent of the PPV sales added on top of that. Canelo had been guaranteed around £12.2m with 70 per cent of PPV sales on top of that.

The Russian retained his WBA light-heavyweight title with a unanimous points decision in Las Vegas.

However, despite having beaten Canelo, Bivol has since given an interview in which he spoke about his struggles in actually receiving the money. 

In an interview with Tass, the Russian news agency, Bivol explained how his money had 'still not arrived' owing to the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. 

'I think it's very difficult [to get a fee for this fight],' Bivol said. 

'We will still think about how to do it. We didn't think ahead because the situation is changing rapidly,' he added. 

Bivol said he told his manager Vadim Kornilov that 'this will be your headache'. 

The decision to allow Bivol to fight in the first place drew criticism from across the sporting landscape, not least from within boxing itself. 

Bivol, who was born in Kyrgyzstan, who retained his WBA light-heavyweight title with the victory over the Mexican, is believed to have not yet condemned the Russian invasion. 

The fighter was forced to enter the ring last week unable to don the Russian flag or have the national anthem of Russia be played.