By Sean Jones: Oscar De La Hoya declares that Canelo Alvarez will “never” defeat Dmitry Bivol because it’s a wrong style match-up for him.
With WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov saying this week that the rematch will have to take place at 168 rather than 175 like Canelo is requesting, it’s possible that we won’t see a second fight.
If there is a rematch, Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) would have to change his fighting style from top to bottom to have any shot at beating Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs).
Canelo has been a counter-puncher his entire career and has shown no ability to throw combinations consistently. When he does throw combos, he needs to take rest breaks because he gets red in the face and quickly tires.
Bivol looked like he never got out of first gear during their, as he looked like he was having an easy spar against an over-matched, under-skilled sparring partner.
Bivol’s technical skills & cardio were world’s better than Canelo’s that night, and obviously, that’s not going to change in a rematch in September.
What we saw last May was Bivol winning a one-sided fight in which he appeared to win 11-1, but the judging crew assigned to the fight scored it a narrow 7-5 x 3.
That’s another thing that Bivol’s manager Vadim wants to be changed for the rematch. He wants to have a say in who the judges are for the Canelo-Bivol II fight.
If it’s going to be the same judges that worked the previous fight or the ones that worked the first two Canelo vs. Gennadiy Golovkin fights, one could understand why Bivol & Vadim would be concerned because many of the fans didn’t agree with the scoring of those matches.
“Canelo will never beat Bivol. Styles make fights. Trust me,” said Oscar De La Hoya to the media when asked if Canelo Alvarez would defeat Dmitry Bivol in the rematch.
“What was wrong with him that night? What was wrong with Bayless that night,” De La Hoya said about the referee Kenny Bayless, who worked the Caleb Plant vs. David Benavidez fight on March 25th.
“Benavidez had two fight two guys in the ring that night. Literally, and he did great. Benavidez beat a Plant that was coming off fighting Canelo, so he had more experience; he’s a better fighter; he’s a complete fighter. So Benavidez did excellent against Plant.
“He did excellent. Plant is an excellent fighter. I don’t know if he’ll run through him, but it’ll be a hell of a fight,” said De La Hoya about a fight between Canelo and Benavidez if it ever happens. “Two trucks smashing together,” said De La Hoya.
