By Keith Idec

Dmitry Bivol continued his rapid rise in the light heavyweight division Friday night.

The unbeaten Russian knocked down Samuel Clarkson three times and beat him by fourth-round technical knockout in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The 26-year-old Bivol (10-0, 8 KOs), the interim WBA light heavyweight champion, drilled Clarkson with a short right hand that floored Clarkson around the midway mark of the fourth round at MGM National Harbor.

Clarkson clearly wasn’t in any condition to continue once he reached his feet. Referee Harvey Dock stopped their scheduled 12-round bout at 1:40 of the fourth round.

The 26-year-old Clarkson, of Cedar Hill, Texas, slipped to 19-4 (12 KOs) after losing the main event of Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader. The intriguing Bivol made the first defense of the interim WBA light heavyweight championship he won by stopping New Zealand’s Robert Berridge (29-6-1, 21 KOs) in the fourth round of their February 23 fight in Russia.

Bivol looked like he would score a first-round knockout Friday night. He dropped Clarkson twice during the first round and Clarkson appeared on the verge of being stopped.

Bivol initially hurt Clarkson with a right hand to the body and knocked him down with a left hook to the head. Clarkson got up, but Bivol put him down again later in the round with a left hook to the body, followed by a straight right hand to the head.

Clarkson reached his feet again and managed to survive serious trouble to make it to the second round. Bivol won the second round easily, but Clarkson remained on his feet.

An aggressive Bivol hurt Clarkson again in a corner during the third round, but Clarkson stayed on his feet throughout those three minutes as well. Clarkson couldn’t do that again in the fourth round, however, and Bivol accomplished what was expected of him in this fight.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.