By Sean Jones: Dmitry Bivol says he wants the rematch with Canelo Alvarez at 168, so there are “no excuses” this time. Bivol will sacrifice weight by coming down from 175 to give Canelo a handicap by fighting him at 168.
Thus far, Canelo is stubbornly resisting taking the rematch with Bivol at 168, saying that he wants the contest to take place at the same weight as last time at 175. Bivol feels that if he agrees to the rematch taking place at 175, Canelo will once again blame his loss on the weight.
The last time WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) fought Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs), the Mexican star complained to his fans afterward that he was fighting outside of his natural weight class of 168, and he also bellyached about a hand injury.
Bivol isn’t falling for it, viewing it as a sign of weakness on Canelo’s part that he would resort to making excuses to explain away his one-sided twelve-round decision defeat last May in Las Vegas.
What made Canelo look even worse was his decision to continually delay taking his rematch with Bivol, which the talented Russian couldn’t understand. If Canelo is the great fighter that many boxing fans view him to be, how come he’s not attempted to avenge his loss to him?
Will Canelo fight Bivol in September?
“What about Canelo? Canelo had the option for the rematch, but he didn’t use it,” said Dmitry Bivol to K.O. Artist Sports. “Again, now he wants to fight against somebody. I don’t know if he wants to fight me or not, but I’m not waiting.”
Canelo choosing once again not to take the rematch has to be viewed as part of a grand strategy to postpone taking the fight with Bivol as long as possible until the fans have forgotten about what happened to him last year.
If Canelo keeps delaying the rematch with Bivol, fans will eventually forget about it and focus on other fights. If that’s what he’s doing, it’s a clever strategy because fans will definitely forget at some point.
“I have my own way. If he wants, he could fight me, but he could before. He could have fought it in May,” said Bivol about Canelo could have chosen to face him in the rematch, but he’s elected to defend against John Ryder next on May 6th.
“Why not 168? If it’s 168, it’s no excuses anymore,” Bivol.
