Is Canelo too small to beat Bivol?

By Boxing News - 05/06/2022 - Comments

By Max Schramm: Canelo Alvarez is going to be giving away a huge amount of size on Saturday night against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. This might be a case of Canelo taking a step too far in his career by facing someone too large for him.

Bivol says he views Canelo as similar to his past opponent 5’10” Jean Pascal, who was too short to land his shots against him in their fight in 2018.

Pascal had better hand speed and power than Canelo does now, and it’s not a good sign that the Canadian-based fighter lacked the size to compete with Bivol.

Canelo’s victories in the past against larger fighters were against B-level fighters that were flawed, to begin with, and easy prey for him. Bivol isn’t one of those fighters. He actually has talent and size, and he’s in the prime of his career, unlike the last fighter Canelo fought at 175, Sergey Kovalev.

Much has been said about the 5’7 1/2″ Canelo’s ability to defeat bigger fighters, but he’s facing a champion at 175 that is not only significantly larger than him, but he’s more mobile and throws more punches.

Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) is also a combination puncher, and Canelo hasn’t fought anyone like that in a long time.

Canelo’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes that Bivol will come into the fight this Saturday night at a solid 190 lbs, whereas Alvarez will be no higher than 177 lbs.

What makes Bivol even more of a problem for Canelo is that he’s not a stationary guy like the fighters the Mexican star has been facing over the years.

“We saw him come to 175 briefly for [Sergey] Kovalev, but Bivol is a different beast, and Bivol is at a different point in his career,” said announcer David Diamante to iFL TV about Saturday’s fight between WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and Canelo Alvarez.

“The one thing Bivol does not know how to do is lose. 19-0 and 11 knockouts, Bivol is very tough, well-schooled, with great amateur pedigree, and he has a very strong self-belief with a really good jab.

“It’s an interesting fight. Canelo is an all-time great, and he’s the pound-for-pound king right now, a former four-division, three-division unified champion, two-division lineal champion, and the only undisputed 168 that we ever had.

“He’s hitting on all cylinders. This kid turned over at 15-years-old, and six years later, he won his first world title fight, and look where he is now.

“The name of this fight is this fight is ‘Legacy is Earned’, and I think that it’s more than about the strap, the WBA light heavyweight strap. It’s more about legacy, and I think we have to take our hats off to fighters like Bivol and Canelo for this.

“It’s a tough fight for Canelo and a tough fight for Bivol, yet they’re doing it. That’s when you know you have real fighters when they take these challenges. So let’s make these fights, and I think we’re going to see one this Saturday,” said Diamante.

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