By Robert Segal: Canelo Alvarez has confirmed to the media today that he will be fighting a rematch against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in September.
This is the first time that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) has conclusively informed his fans & media that he’ll be fighting Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) in September, provided he successfully defends his undisputed super middleweight championship on May 6th against John Ryder in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Bivol took Canelo to school last May, giving him a boxing lesson that resembled a coach training a raw amateur that walked in from the street. Canelo was dominated to the point where it wasn’t remotely competitive.
Fans were hoping that Canelo would give up on his hopeless dream of avenging his loss to Bivol because they feel that he’s not nearly good enough to defeat the unbeaten WBA 175-lb champion, and they’d rather watch him fight someone that he would at least have a chance of beating, like David Benavidez.
“Canelo Alvarez has confirmed to reporters that he plans to rematch Dmitry Bivol in September, though insisted he is open to a David Benavidez fight if Bivol doesn’t happen,” per Michael Benson on Twitter.
“I don’t watch a lot of my opponents, but I saw one times, two times, but that’s it. Highlights, yeah,” said Canelo Alvarez to Behind The Gloves when asked if he’s watched some of John Ryder’s past fights.
“No single fight is easy. Every fight is a hard fight, but I think it’s similar. I don’t know. I need to fight first to know,” said Canelo, reacting to being told that Eddie Hearn said David Benavidez is an “easier” fight for him than Dmitry Bivol.
“I think what he [Hearn] tried to say is that Bivol is at 175, one weight up, and Bivol is a really good fighter. He’s a solid champion at 175. That’s what he maybe tried to say, but I don’t know. I need to find out.
“It not makes sense to respond to that, right?” said Canelo when told that his former promoter Oscar De La Hoya said that Alvarez is “regressing” as a fighter by facing “all these British fighters” rather than “the big boys” that would build his legacies, like David Benavidez, Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
“Oscar, last year, he acted a little crazy. So it’s better not to answer. No comment,” said Canelo.
