By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn says Canelo Alvarez still wants the rematch with Dmitry Bivol after losing to him last May. Canelo still wants revenge for what Bivol did to him earlier this year, schooling the Mexican star and making him look like a one-dimensional boxer from start to finish at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
You can’t blame Canelo’s loss for being outsized by the taller Bivol because he was outboxed in that fight. Bivol didn’t try and overpower Canelo as Gennadiy Golovkin had attempted to do in their first fight in 2017.
Bivol just boxed Canelo and took full advantage of the flaws in his game. It was just a pure schooling by Bivol and a loss Canelo won’t soon forget. The fact Canelo wants revenge tells you that he’s still haunted by the memory of that terrible night.
Hearn states that if Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) successfully defends his WBA light heavyweight title against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez on November 5th, Canelo (59-2-1, 39 KOs) will want to fight him.
Beating the excruciatingly slow Zurdo Ramirez won’t be a problem for Bivol because that guy is fighting out of the wrong weight class.
Ramirez is a slow cruiserweight at this stage in his career, and he’s doing himself a disservice by trying to keep himself at 175, a division that his body isn’t designed to compete in.
It’s like a fat person starving themselves to a size that they’re not built to sustain. They just look wrong. Once Bivol dominates Ramirez on November 5th in Abu Dhabi, Canelo will get his chance to avenge his loss.
“The Bivol fight, before the Canelo fight, was a 50-50 fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV about Canelo Alvarez’s disaster at the hands of Dmitry Bivol last May.
“Because of the victory over Canelo Alvarez, I think you have to say Bivol is a slight favorite. But when he was in Abu Dhabi for the press conference, he [Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez] was huge.
“He was heavy at the time, but still, he’s a huge 175-pounder, Zurdo. But Bivol is full of confidence. You have to put Bivol on the pound-for-pound list right now after his victory over Canelo Alvarez.
“I just feel like it’s a tremendous fight, one of the best fights of the year. I think if Bivol wins, Canelo really isn’t interested in the world championship at 175. He’s interested in the fight because he wants to avenge his defeat.
“I think if Bivol wins the fight, he could fight Canelo Alvarez. If Zurdo wins, maybe he fights Beterbiev. For Canelo, it’s not about fighting Zurdo. He wants Bivol, the guy that beats him, but who knows?
“Canelo has the best resume in boxing. I cannot believe that people question the resume of Canelo Alvarez. Just write it down on a piece of paper or read off the names that he’s fought consistently,” said Hearn.
