By Sean Jones: Bernard Hopkins views Saturday’s fight between Canelo Alvarez and WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol as the equivalent of a “mugging,” with the Mexican star having an easy win.
If you wonder why Hopkins believes this is such a mismatch for Canelo, he used to promote him when he was with Golden Boy Promotions.
That might have something to do with why Bernard sees this as such a mismatch because it’s evident from looking at Bivol’s past fights, there’s a genuine possibility that he not only beats the short 5’7″ Canelo but makes it look as easy as it was when he beat the similar-sized Jean Pascal.
Hopefully, Hopkins is willing to admit that he was wrong about Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) afterward because he’s got to recognize that Canelo has proven to be beatable a half dozen times in his career.
He should have more than one loss on his record from his fights against these fighters:
Austin Trout
Gennadiy Golovkin x 2
Erislandy Lara
Miguel Cotto
Jorge Juarez
Hopkins is not giving Bivol a chance
“This is a combination of a Philadelphia & New York mugging at 12:oo p.m. with no lights outside,” said Bernard Hopkins to Fighthype about Saturday’s fight between Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol.
It’s one thing for Hopkins to be picking Canelo to beat Bivol, but for him to be talking like this is a mismatch, it sounds like his feet aren’t firmly on the ground.
There’s nothing wrong with admitting that Canelo could lose the fight because we looked terrible the last time he fought at 175 against a shot to pieces Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
Back when Canelo fought Kovalev, his physique looked a lot different than it does now. Canelo had packed on a lot of muscle from his two fights with Gennadiy Golovkin and still looked like a bodybuilder when he fought Kovalev.
Now, Canelo’s physique has returned to the pre-Golovkin form, which will likely affect his strength for the Bivol fight.
“Himself,” said Hopkins when asked who does give Canelo a challenge right now. “Do you think he’s doing it for more fame?
“Do you think he’s doing it for more monetary gain?” said Hopkins about Canelo. If he is, it’s not for a significant percentage. This is about history. Canelo is about history. It’s up to him to let that go and become more ordinary.
Hearn says Canelo will fight “Anyone”
“Floyd [Mayweather] doesn’t like anybody to get close to his kind of legacy; he’s a pound-for-pound great, he’s a pay-per-view star,” said Eddie Hearn to Little Giant Boxing.
“Floyd is an amazing fighter, but this guy [Canelo Alvarez] is different; he’s just a different personality. He’s much more humble, he’s a man of the people, but Floyd was a great star in his own right. He should embrace the next generation.
“There aren’t any other pay-per-view fighters out there like Canelo Alvarez in America; they don’t exist. You have to make a massive fight to even get close to doing half of the numbers that Canelo Alvarez does.
“You can hear I’m a big fan because he’s a great fighter, a great individual, and a massive star. It sometimes carries boxing. We need nights like this. We need people like Canelo Alvarez to keep this sport blazing.
“I think Saul is the type of guy that wants to get something out of the fight. With Bivol, he wants to dethrone him of his 175-lb world title. [David] Benavidez and [Jermall] Charlo, there are no belts for him to take.
“They’re good fights, and I think he feels those guys should fight each other and make that fight as big as possible. People that criticize Canelo Alvarez’s resume are absolutely crazy.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. He will fight anyone, but he does like dethroning the champions. Saul would have no problems fighting Demetrius Andrade, but what for? Just a defense? I can’t remember when Canelo made a voluntary defense of a world title.
“He made one defense against [Avni] Yildirim, and every other fight has been against champions. Danny Jacobs, Kovalev, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, they’ve all been champions that he’s dethroned,” said Hearn.
