Canelo was up 4-0 against Bivol on all 3 judges scorecards after 4 rounds

By Boxing News - 05/08/2022 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez looked sluggish, slow & tired last Saturday night, losing to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol by a 12 round unanimous decision in a fight that was far more one-sided than the shockingly dreadful set of scores handed down by the three judges that worked the bout.

After four rounds, ALL four judges had Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) up 4-0, which showed fully what the unbeaten Bivol (20-0, 10 KOs) was against in taking on the famous Mexican star on his home turf at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Image: Canelo was up 4-0 against Bivol on all 3 judges scorecards after 4 rounds

For those boxing fans that don’t remember, this is the same venue where Canelo twice fought Gennadiy Golovkin in controversial fights.

Canelo looked old

After four rounds, this writer had the Canelo vs. Bivol fight knotted up 2-2. Canelo fought well enough to edge rounds one and four, even though he was outworked and out-landed. Canelo was throwing single shots that were mostly blocked.

Bivol was machine-gunning him with two & four-punch combinations between Canelo’s rare shots, which weren’t thrown with the same power, but they were landing cleanly. Bivol made it look so effortless with his shots, as if he was reaching out without trying to load up.

No way on earth did Canelo deserve to be up 4-0 after four rounds, and it’s so sad that this judging crew was so off.

One thing that Sean Jones noticed was how old Canelo looked. Although he’s 31, he looked closer to 38 and reminded me of how boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez looked when he lost to a young Oscar De La Hoya in 1996. Chavez was 34 at the time but looked like a fossil and was utterly overmatched against De La Hoya.

In the fifth round, Bivol bombarded Canelo with a six-punch flurry of shots when he was backed against the ropes. At least four shots landed cleanly on Canelo’s head, repeatedly snapping it back.

One got the sense from watching that flurry that Bivol could have stopped Canelo if he had repeated that process in the subsequent rounds, but instead, he chose not to get too greedy, focusing primarily on two to four-punch combos.

Bivol’s technique was impeccable the entire 12-round contest, nailing Canelo with smooth combinations and then getting away without being hit back.

Alvarez in denial

“I’m very proud and competitive. I’ve gone up and fought at 175lbs,” said Canelo Alvarez after his loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol last Saturday night.

“I’ve gone out of my comfort zone to fight at a weight that’s not mine; there’s no shame in that,” Canelo continued. “I’m looking for challenges that others would be scared to take on because they might lose.”

Canelo isn’t saying why he moved up to 175 to challenge Bivol for his WBA light heavyweight title.

While Canelo makes himself sound brave for his decision to go up to 175 to face Bivol, many boxing fans believe he made this move to avoid an equally dangerous threat from David Benavidez at 168.

With Benavidez’s power and high work rate, Canelo would be at serious risk of getting knocked out by the 25-year-old. Hence, Canelo chose to go up to 175 to face the pure boxer Bivol, who isn’t a huge puncher but has Shakur Stevenson-like skills.

Had Canelo stayed at 168, he would have been expected to fight the young gun Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), who is his #1 ranked contender with the WBC and has been calling him out for years.

Getting beaten by Benavidez would have left Canelo without the excuse he has for losing to the bigger fighter Bivol at 175. As you can see, Canelo chose to mention that he moved up to 175, a convenient way of giving an excuse to his fans.

“I’m not giving any excuses, but I did feel that I won the fight,” said Canelo sounding like a fighter in complete 100% denial about his loss.

“I think perhaps I lost four or five rounds, but I definitely didn’t lose the fight. Maybe the weight was a slight issue and made me feel not 100%,” said Canelo, making an excuse.

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