By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez says he plans on taking a tune-up fight next May to see how his surgically repeated left wrist feels before facing WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in September.
The 32-year-old Canelo (58-2-2, 39 K) KOs) had surgery on his wrist last month, and he wants to make sure it’s 100% in May before proceeding to the difficult task of trying to avenge his loss to the unbeaten Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) in September.
If Canelo’s left wrist gives him problems in May, the rematch with Bivol may be moved to 2024. Also, the rematch will likely hinge on Bivol winning his next fight in the first half of next year.
Unlike Canelo, Bivol won’t be taking a tune-up in his next fight and will be defending his WBA 175-lb title against one of the top contenders if IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev isn’t available for the undisputed clash against him.
Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn has spoken in the recent past about wanting to match him against unbeaten Joshua Buatsi. As such, with Canelo choosing to delay the rematch with Bivol further, Dmitry could potentially face #2 WBA, #2 WBC & #3 WBO Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs).
“My plan right now is to return in May. I’m going to start training in January and see how I feel after that,” said Canelo Alvarez to ESPN, talking about his surgically repaired left wrist.
“The idea is to return in May with a tuneup fight to see how I feel and then get the rematch against Bivol in September,” Canelo said. “That’s the only thing I want for my career right now.”
Canelo already passed up taking a rematch with Bivol last September, opting to face the 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy fight instead of trying to avenge his loss.
Interestingly, Canelo is continuing to delay the inevitable by facing Bivol and likely losing to him in another one-sided fight, as we saw last May.
Again, Canelo hasn’t set a condition on the Bivol rematch, as he did recently by saying that he would need to defeat Gilberto Zurdo’ Ramirez to get the second fight with him. Bivol might not get the Canelo rematch if he loses his next fight.
“Let’s see how that fight goes,” said Canelo about the WBC-ordered clash between Caleb Plant and David Benavidez. “It’s a very competitive fight, and to me, I see Benavidez winning, but my focus is on the Bivol rematch.”