By Sean Jones: In a move that reeked of insecurity, Canelo Alvarez came on stage with his four 168-lb titles on Thursday’s final press conference with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for their fight on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Why Canelo would bother bringing his four super-middleweight titles on stage with him is unclear, as they’re totally meaningless for Saturday’s fight with WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs).
You hate to say it, but Canelo’s decision to bring his useless 168-lb trinkets on stage made him look completely insecure.
Those four 168-lb straps aren’t going to be in play in this fight, so it made Canelo look like he was overcompensating. I know it’s got to be a bitter pill for Canelo to swallow going into the Bivol fight as a challenger instead of a champion, but that’s how it is.
Canelo is going into the foreign territory by rushing headlong into the 175-lb division without having to work his way to a title shot like other fighters.
Was Canelo wearing elevator shoes?
“It’s pretty big. Canelo had some nice shoes on. It’s a pretty significant size difference,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social when told that Dmitry Bivol didn’t look much bigger than Canelo Alvarez at the final press conference on Thursday.
It did look like the 5’7 1/2″ Canelo had shoes on that made him taller at Thursday’s pressure conference, so he wouldn’t be dwarfed by the 6’0″ Bivol.
Again, this goes along with Canelo’s decision to bring his four useless super-middleweight titles on stage. Who is Canelo trying to kid?
“You know that Canelo is not making weight for any shape or form for this fight,” Hearn continued. “There’s no cutting weight, no bathes, not late-night sessions.
“He’s probably eating his way to 175 pounds. Dmitry Bivol will be cutting weight to make 175 pounds. When they enter the ring, Dmitry Bivol will be 190 lbs, and Canelo Alvarez will probably be 177.
“There’s a huge size difference in this fight. I love the fight, and I love hearing them talk because I look in Dmitry Bivol’s eyes and say, ‘This is it for you.
“This is what you always wanted through that incredible amateur career, those world championships as an amateur, and really strolling through the world championships at light heavyweight.
“This is what you’ve been searching for a long time, so good luck to him. He’s going to be facing the king of the sport on Saturday in front of 20,000 Mexican fans as well,” said Hearn.
Canelo rates Bivol over Beterbiev
“I think he’s a better boxer; he has more skills than Beterbiev,” Canelo said to ESPN. “Beterbiev’s a really good fighter; strong, always go forward. But I think Bivol is a really good fighter with a lot of experience.”
“I like the idea [of facing Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr. winner],” Alvarez said. “My best weight is 168 … but I feel really good at 175 too. I feel strong.”
