By Dan Ambrose: Dmitry Bivol will fight in August if his rematch with Canelo Alvarez fails to talk place in September.
Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) has repeatedly said that he wants to fight Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) next, but if the two can’t negotiate a deal, Dmitry will be back in action in August, according to promote Eddie Hearn.
Bivol & Canelo disagree over the weight for the rematch, which could be enough of an obstacle to prevent the fight from materializing. Canelo wants the fight at 175, while Bivol prefers it to occur at 168.
Although Canelo had a rematch clause to force a second fight with Bivol after losing to him last year, it’s believed that’s no longer enforceable due to the Mexican star’s decision not to take advantage of it.
Instead of taking the immediate rematch with Bivol, Canelo fought Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy contest last September, and then Alvarez fought John Ryder last month.
In light of Canelo’s leisurely attitude about pressing for the rematch with Bivol, it’s fair to say he’ll again go in another direction rather than take this difficult fight. The way that Canelo has twice swerved taking the rematch shows that he’s similar to a lot of fighters that duck difficult fights that they’re not confident of winning.
“We want to make Bivol against Canelo. I saw all the stuff around the Internet. We haven’t made an official offer to Canelo Alvarez for Dmitry Bivol,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social.
“We’re still negotiating that fight with Bivol, DAZN, and then we’ll present to Canelo shortly. That would be in September, and that’s still the fight we want to make and still the fight that we’ve been instructed to make.
“That could be his [Bivol] next fight. If he doesn’t fight Canelo, I think he fights in August,” said Hearn about Bivol.
Hearn didn’t mention who the backup option would be for Bivol to fight in August if his negotiations with Canelo fall apart.
These would be good options for Bivol:
Dan Azeez
Anthony Yarde
Joe Smith
Richard Rivera
Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Lyndon Arthur
Bivol’s WBA mandatory isn’t due yet, so he can fight whoever he wishes. But it’s important that Hearn start looking around right now, just in case the Canelo negotiations implode.
It’s questionable whether Canelo even wants the rematch with Bivol. As the saying goes, ‘The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior,’ and that might hold true for Canelo. He’s twice put off the Bivol fight and that action is likely to continue.