Canelo Alvarez insists on 175-lbs for Dmitry Bivol rematch

By Boxing News - 11/23/2022 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez is insisting on the rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol at 175 rather than the handicap of 168 lbs that promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in for their potential September contest.

The Mexican star could live to regret his insistence on making the rematch with the more talented Bivol at 175 rather than 168 because his only chance of beating him is if he’s drained. With Bivol at full strength at 175, Canelo will be outgunned in every department, and it won’t be a fair fight.

Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is certain that he can defeat Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) in the rematch despite him appearing to lose 11-1 in their fight last May at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Although the three judges that worked the Canelo-Bivol fight scored it close at 115-113, fans disagreed with them, viewing it as a near shutout for Bivol.

If not for Bivol taking it easy on Canelo in the fourth, he probably would have won all 12 rounds. Canelo was outboxed in that fight, and it had nothing to do with the size advantage of Bivol.

He was far more skilled than Canelo, who used the same counter-punching style that he’s used his entire career.

Canelo chose to bypass a rematch with Bivol last September, choosing to fight Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy. Now instead of fighting the rematch with Bivol in May, Canelo wants to take a tune-up fight to test out his surgically repaired left wrist.

It’s entirely possible that if Canelo isn’t happy with his performance in May, he’ll take another tune-up fight in September.

Again, if Canelo struggles in that fight, too, we’ll likely continue to see the tune-ups until he’s confident enough to fight Bivol again.

“Same weight, that’s it,” Canelo Alvarez said to La Saga via Izquierdazo when asked what weight he wants the rematch with Dmitry Bivol.

“Of course, I can win. It’s not a matter of belief. I know I can. That is my priority now,” said Canelo about his view that he can defeat WBA 175-lb champion Bivil in the rematch in September next year.

Unless Canelo gets wacky scoring like in his previous fight with Bivol, his chances of winning the rematch are pretty much zero. He doesn’t possess the talent to beat Bivol.

It’s not helped that Canelo has a low work rate, which means he will be getting out-punched the entire fight by Bivol, and made to look bad.

Canelo’s tune-up opponent for May could be the winner of this Saturday’s fight between Zach Parker and John Ryder.

“I’d rather face Canelo. If you want to be a champion, you’ve got to beat a champion. He’s the man at the minute. He has all the belts, and obviously, this is the type of fight that you’re in boxing for to go against the best of the best,” said Zach Parker to Secondsout about whether he’d like to be elevated to full WBO super middleweight champion if Canelo vacates the title if he successfully defeats John Ryder this Saturday night.”

“So, I definitely want to face Canelo rather than collect a belt.”

“Yeah, definitely,” said John Ryder to Secondsout when asked if he wants to fight Canelo. “Over lockdown, I spent two years following Canelo around the world being his stand-in if someone fell out.

“For me, it’s about picking the right fights at the right time. That’s first and foremost. It’s Zach Parker on Saturday. Once that’s out of the way, we’ll reevaluate and go from there. We can’t waste too much time hanging around waiting for Canelo.

“He’s got other obligations and other names, so we’ll see what he’s doing, and then we’ll go our own way,” said Ryder.

YouTube video