Dmitry Bivol: ‘I can do better’ in rematch with Canelo Alvarez

By Boxing News - 05/08/2022 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Dmitry Bivol says he feels confident that he’ll “do better” against Canelo Alvarez in their likely rematch in September from what he learned about his fighting style last Saturday night in his decisive victory at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) still needs to trigger the rematch clause in their contract for the second fight with Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) to take place, but he sounds like he’s made up his mind about wanting a chance for redemption.

Goodness knows, Canelo has a lot to prove to his boxing fans after the way WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol made him look amateurish with his dominant 12-round unanimous decision win.  It’s the type of defeat that is almost impossible to walk away from for an elite fighter like Canelo.

Even if Canelo wanted to try and shrug off the loss and move back down to 168, he couldn’t do it without losing a considerable number of his loyal fans, as they expect him to at least try and avenge his loss to Bivol.

Without Canelo improving his conditioning, he won’t stand a chance against Bivol.

If you were to identify Canelo’s biggest failing last Saturday, you have to point to his stamina or lack thereof.  Canelo gassed out after the first quarter of the fight, making him easy prey for Bivol from rounds 5-12.

Canelo’s stamina failed him

“His punches were getting weaker, but sometimes he would get bullish and hard-like in the beginning,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV, about how Canelo Alvarez was losing steam on his shots in the second half of the fight when he grew fatigued.

“I felt like I was winning, and I have to win this round too 100%, I have to win this round too,” continued Bivol when asked if he felt that he was winning the fight in the 12th round.

“I felt like I had done everything, and now it’s not on me. For one second, when I heard, ‘115-113, maybe over there,'” said Bivol on what went through his mind when he heard the scores announced.

“I did my job; I did what I had to do. We have a rematch in the contract, but we don’t have rules for the rematch. I don’t know what will be next. I have to talk to my team and with Canelo maybe.

“Canelo should think about his performance. Of course, now I know something, yeah,” said Bivol when asked if he believes he does better in the rematch with Canelo.

“Maybe he feels too. I don’t know what he feels. I can do better. I don’t want to talk about what I have to do better about strategy,” Bivol said, making it clear he doesn’t want to give away his plans for the rematch with Canelo.

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