By Dan Ambrose: Eddie Hearn says Canelo Alvarez wants to fight Dmitry Bivol if he defeats Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th.
Canelo changed his mind about taking an immediate rematch with Bivol after saying he would face him next after his loss last May against the undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion.
From Hearn’s standpoint, it makes sense for him to start talking up the possibility of a Canelo-Bivol II rematch for later this year, as it will create more interest in the stale, past its sell-by date trilogy between Canelo and the 40-year-old Golovkin on September 17th.
Let’s face it; fans don’t have much interest in seeing Canelo face Golovkin a third time because the Kazahstan fighter has looked old & shot in his last four fights since his loss to Alvarez in 2018.
By Hearn floating the idea of Canelo facing Bivol in a rematch later this year, get fans to purchase the less attractive albatross-level Canelo-Golovkin 3 fight.
It’s a brilliant strategy by Hearn if that’s his game because fans are disinterested in seeing the third match between Alvarez and GGG.
Many people think Golovkin is just looking for a cash-out final payday before retiring afterward, and they point to the weak opposition that he’s faced in the last four years as a sign that he’s taken no risks to ruin his chances for that money.
“Now he comes back, fights Triple G, he wants to go straight back into the Bivol rematch. If he beats Bivol in the rematch, what do we say then? One Of The Greatest Fighters Of All Time,” said Eddie Hearn to MMA Hour about the plans for Canelo Alvarez this year.
Will Canelo swerve the Bivol fight again in favor of a softer match against John Ryder in December?
Many boxing fans already believe Canelo will take the easier fight against Ryder rather than risk getting beaten for a second time against Bivol in 2022.
Hearn feels that if Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) avenges his loss to Bivol, it will make him one of the “greatest” fighters the sport has seen.
Of course, it would require that Canelo’s victory over Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) not be controversial like his wins over Golovkin, Erislandy Lara, and Austin Trout.
“His back is against the wall, which might be bad news for Gennady Golovkin or good news for Gennady Golovkin,” Hearn said of Canelo.
“Canelo is pretty open about his assessment about this fight [with Golovkin], which is, ‘I either want to retire him, and I will only be happy by destroying him.’ This is a nice edge. I’ve not seen him like this before.“He’s beaten everyone at middleweight.
“He’s beaten everyone at super-middleweight. He wants to do something different; he wants to test himself,” said Hearn about Canelo.
