By Jim Calfa: Canelo Alvarez won’t be able to walk through Dmitry Bivol like he’s been doing recently against the super middleweights says Mikey Garcia. Bivol’s natural size advantage as a light heavyweight will be a problem for the smaller Canelo, who lacks the frame to be fighting in that 175-lb division.
On paper, Bivol is by far the best fighter Canelo will have faced since his 2018 rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin. There are some who feel that Bivol is a better fighter than Golovkin, which is bad news for Canelo because he arguably lost both of his fights with the Kazakstan fighter.
Although Canelo roughly weighs the same as Bivol, he doesn’t have the same frame, and his punches likely won’t have the same effect as they”ve had against 168-pounders.
Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) has got a “dangerous” fight on his hands against WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) on May 7th, according to Mikey because he’s not going to get away with the same things he’s done against the British super middleweights that he’s been constantly facing since 2018.
Next month, Canelo will be moving up to 175 to challenge Bivol for his WBA title on DAZN pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It’s a fight that is very risky because it’s a big upgrade in talent for Canelo from the weak bunch of champions at 168 that he’s been facing, and he may not be ready for this type of quality guy.
Bivol will be “dangerous”
“I think Bivol is a more dangerous fight size-wise,” said Mikey Garcia to K.O. Artist Sports when asked if Dmitry Bivol is a ‘Better route or better fight’ for Canelo Alvarez than Jermall Charlo.
“He’s young, strong, big, natural light heavyweight, so for that reason, he’s a bigger risk [for Canelo], I think.
“I don’t think he’s going to be able to walk through Bivol as he did some of his other opponents, but I still think Canelo is a superb boxer and will box the decision.
“I think Canelo stops GGG at this point now. It’ll be a good match-up, but once Canelo gets in the ring, I think he stops him,” said Mikey Garcia about whether the 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin can still give Alvarez problems if they fight in September.
175-pounders will give Canelo problems
“I think the light heavyweights are going to be the more difficult fights for him,” said Mikey when asked if David Benavidez will give Canelo more trouble than IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
“He’s [Canelo] got to overcome the size, strength, and power and they can take a better punch,” Mikey said about why Canelo will have more problems in the 175-lb division against the likes of Bivol & Beterbiev compared to him competing against 168-pounders at super middleweight.
“For those reasons, they’re more difficult fights for Canelo, but his boxing skills are that good that he can overcome those size advantages,” said Mikey.
