By Dan Ambrose: Nonito Donaire believes Canelo Alvarez would have a chance of defeating Dmitry Bivol in a rematch if the fight takes place at 168 rather than 175.
The idea is Bivol would be drained by coming down to 168, and that would give Canelo enough of an advantage to give him a decent shot at winning.
Additionally, if Canelo throws in a strength-draining rehydration clause in the contract to prevent Bivol from rehydrating to the mid-170s on the morning of the fight, that could be the clincher to give the Mexican star enough of a handicap to win.
Donaire says Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) would have no chance against WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) if they meet at 175 because Dmitry is too big for him in that weight class.
Bivol hasn’t said whether he’d be willing to come down to 168 to face Canelo for the rematch, but it’s possible that his promoter Eddie Hearn could persuade him to make that move if he can get the Mexican to agree to put his undisputed championship up for grabs.
Bivol wants to win world titles and prefers a fight with unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev because he wants the chance to compete for the undisputed championship at 175 to collect all four belts.
Beterbiev won’t be ready to face Bivol in the first half of 2023, according to Hearn, and it’s unknown whether his promoters at Top Rank will agree to make the fight. Beterbiev fights on ESPN, which could be an obstacle to making the fight with Bivol.
“I think Ramirez had the wrong plan going in because he was placing himself in the midrange where Bivol was most powerful,” said Nonito Donaire to Fight Hub TV about Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez’s loss to Dmitry Bivol.
It wasn’t the power of Bivol that gave Ramirez so many problems last Saturday night. It was the hand speed, movement, and superb defensive skills.
The kiss of death for Ramirez was his timidness to let his hands go, as he looked frightful of putting his chin on the line by fighting in the way that he needed to for him to have a chance of winning.
Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) was too big, too slow, and too unskilled to overcome all the advantages Bivol had going for him. Foolishly, Ramirez gave up his height by leaning forward, making himself appear a lot shorter.
“Ramirez placed himself at the midrange, where Bivol was able to catch him and throw all that power punch instead of pressing on him and being the bigger guy. That’s what I expected Zurdo to do, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen that way.
“Beterbiev would be the next fight [for Bivol]. That’s the fight that has to be, and I think showing how he did this fight, before I count him out against Beterbiev, but seeing this fight, I think he’s going to do really well against Beterbiev because of the way he thinks and the way he does stuff.
“There might be a big difference being at 168, but 175, I don’t think Canelo has a chance because Bivol is too big in that division.
“I think he should take his time to rest and heal up. He doesn’t need to get in there right away,” Donaire said about Canelo. “If that’s the case, I think he [Canelo] might go for Zurdo. That would be a good fight for him, but Benavidez is what people are going to want.
“I think that’s a great fight. It’s a hell of a fight,” Donaire said about Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant. “That’s what people want to have, and I’m looking forward to that.
“Caleb is a great boxer, and I think he can exploit weakness from Benavidez, but at the same time, Benavidez can overrun Caleb like Canelo did.
“100%, I believe that,” said Donaire when told that Benavidez could get Canelo fight if he defeats Plant. “I think he deserves that.”
