By Sean Jones: Dmitry Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov says that one of the terms they want for the rematch with Canelo Alvarez in September is to take place at 168, with all the Mexican superstar’s super middleweight world titles on the line.
Vadim says that Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) isn’t motivated to fight Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) a second time at 175 because he felt he dominated him last May, winning 10 of the 12-round fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
For the rematch to take place at 175 again would be pointless, according to Vadim, because Bivol already proved that he’s a better fighter than Canelo, and nothing will change if they fight the rematch at the same weight.
With Canelo blaming his loss to Bivol on him fighting outside of his natural weight class last May when he moved up to 175, Vadim says they don’t want similar excuses for the rematch.
The only way to prevent Canelo from pulling that card again is to have the rematch occur at 168, where he can’t complain to his fans afterward that he was fighting outside his natural weight class.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense for them. He was talking about fighting Bivol in May, and then they decided to fight Ryder. Now he’s talking about fighting Bivol again,” said Vadim Kornilov to Little Giant Boxing on the Canelo vs. Bivol rematch.
Bivol insists on Canelo rematch at 168
“He [Canelo] could say, ‘We wanted the fight, but they didn’t want to accept the terms.’ Bivol already beat him, so he’s not really motivated. So they have to meet certain terms that we’re asking for.
“One of those terms is Bivol wants to fight him at 168. It’s enticing for him to put all his titles on the line, and he doesn’t want any more excuses. Bivol wants it to be a fight where there are no more excuses,” said Kornilov.
Even if Bivol does get his way with Canelo agreeing to fight him at 168, the Mexican star will likely stick a rehydration clause in the contract. That’s predictable.
As Vadim pointed out, Canelo might not be serious about fighting Bivol again, as he’s already twice skipped making the rematch. Canelo was supposed to fight Bivo in a rematch last September but chose to fight 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy and almost lost.
Now, Canelo is fighting John Ryder in May. What’s to stop Canelo from telling his fans that he couldn’t make a deal with Bivol for September and, instead, taking another easy fight against recent Matchroom signee Edgar Berlanga?
In theory, Canelo could keep kicking the rematch with Bivol down the road, year after year, until the fans eventually forget about his humiliating loss.
