Dmitry Bivol has shared the ring with several big punchers during his illustrious career.

The Russian superstar is one of the longest-reigning champions in boxing today, having held his WBA light heavyweight title since November 2017.

Bivol defeated Canelo Alvarez convincingly in 2022Getty

He won the belt by knocking out Trent Broadhurst inside one round and has gone on to defend it 11 times.

Along the way, he defeated multiple big punchers including Canelo Alvarez, Joe Smith Jr and Lenin Castillo.

However, none of the aforementioned boxers were picked by Bivol as the hardest hitter he has ever faced.

That distinction was reserved for former WBC and lineal light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, who Bivol got the better of over the 12-round distance in 2018.

“One of the hardest punchers and one of the most dangerous is Jean Pascal because his punch is fast, sharp and heavy,” Bivol told talkSPORT.com.

“Another heavy puncher is Joe Smith. There were a few sparring partners in Russia who hit hard as well but I would say Pascal.”

Bivol might change his answer after his undisputed clash with WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on Saturday.

Beterbiev is the only active world champion with a 100 per cent knockout rate, having finished all 20 of his fights inside the distance.

His punching power was on full display in his last outing when he became the first man to knock down and stop durable Liverpudlian Callum Smith.

Following his win over Smith in January, he was booked to face Bivol for all four major sanctioning body belts on June 1.

Bivol inists nobody hit him harder than PascalGETTY

However, the fight was postponed after Beterbiev ruptured his meniscus in training.

As a result, Bivol was matched up with replacement opponent Malik Zinad, who he took care of inside six rounds.

Meanwhile, Beterbiev vs Bivol was pushed back four months.

It was initially thought that there was a rematch clause in both men’s contracts but Bivol told talkSPORT.com that this is not the case.

This revelation opens the door for a potential rematch with Canelo providing everything goes to plan for Bivol.

The Mexican superstar fell to a unanimous decision defeat in their inaugural encounter two years ago and insisted before his most recent outing against Edgar Berlanga that he wants to run it back with Bivol next.

Despite Canelo’s keenness to get the fight over the line, Bivol claims there has been no contact from his team.

He added: “We don’t have a rematch clause [with Beterbiev]… I don’t know about Canelo we have not spoken to anybody about this fight.

“Nobody has reached out to discuss this.”