Although he never fought for a world title—such were the boxing politics of the day—he was ranked number one contender in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions and fought a veritable Who’s Who of great boxers on an undeniable great era.
He fought Teddy Yarosz (105-14-3) and Melio Bettina (57-11-2) in 1941; Billy Soose (34-5-1), Gus Lesnevich (52-6-5), Bob Pastor twice (51-6-4), young Joe Maxim (14-3), Tami Mauriello (41-3-1) and Lee Savold (77-29-3) in 1942; and Ezzard Charles (28-2-1) and Lloyd Marshall (41-6-2) in 1943.
Those were just the highlights of Bivins’ first three years of active duty.
Bivins continued to fight the best of the best: Archie Moore in 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951, Jersey Joe Walcott in 1946, Ezzard Charles again in 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1952, Harold Johnson in 1949, and Joe Louis in 1951.
Bivins defeated eight of the eleven world champions he faced. He retired in 1955 with an 86-25-1 record. The Cleveland Spider-Man was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999.