The best pound-for-pound fighter in the world lost to Russian Dimitry Bivol, in what was a surprise for the boxing world. El Canelo had to move up in weight to fight the Russian, who took the fight in a unanimous decision.
It may have been a surprise, but for boxing insiders, they know that Bivol added the ninth defence of his world title. Bivol is a very serious fighter, and Canelo took him very seriously, but he was no match for the Russian.
There is talk of a rematch and if it happens it is always a good idea to go to https://bookmaker-ratings.com/ where the top betting sites with the best odds are.
What happened to Alvarez
For this fight Canelo had to go up in weight, at the scales; he marked 174 pounds; the Mexican had already fought there against Mayweather in what was the only defeat of his career. At that weight, the fighter did not do badly, but it was not his best moment.
From the beginning it was obvious that the weight gain had taken its toll on him; he was not as agile, and he looked heavy. His punching, that characterized him so much, was not being so effective because it lacked power. Mike Tyson himself said that Canelo’s jab was not good, and that gave Bivol confidence that he did not waste.
Another problem was fatigue. Alvarez is a physical prodigy; he can either fight all 12 rounds and look completely fresh, or with one punch he can end it all. In this fight, the Jalisco-born fighter looked very tired as the rounds progressed.
His preparation was ideal, but that weight is a lot of work for him. He said at the end of the fight, that the Russian beat him very well, but he felt the weight, he was out of his zone of dominance and could never fully enter the fight as he would have liked.
Oscar de la Hoya also mentioned that it was Bivol who dominated the fight; he obviously dominates this category, and although he was facing the best pound-for pound fighter in the world, he was not intimidated and took the fight where he wanted it to go.
Another determining factor was the distance that the Russian boxer manages; it is much greater than that of Canelo, and he took advantage of this in a masterful way to connect and separate. He never let Canelo enter and put himself in an area where he could connect one of his famous hooks or uppercuts.
The Russian’s defence was also magnificent, he never let the Mexican attack; the body, proof of this was to see how his arms were full of blows, he never allowed Canelo to punish him, and in that desperation the best pound for pound began to throw more attacks that tired him.
At the end of the fight, in his corner, Eddie Reynoso was telling Canelo to take advantage of the last rounds, because he was not going to be able to knock him out; they knew they were down on the scorecards. But maybe they thought they could split the decision.
Basically, Bivol’s physical superiority and perfect defence caused Alvarez to lose the second fight in his history.
Rematch?
A rematch will most likely be sought, but the question is at what weight. Surely Bivol wouldn’t want to go down to super middleweight because it would make him lose power, and he knows that’s where Canelo is very dangerous. When he’s at his weight, his punch is very powerful, and he’s looking for the knockout.
But there would be a chance that Canelo would agree to move back up to the light heavyweight division. He knows what he lacked, and he would arrive with more knowledge, and with more time adapted to that weight; maybe that would be a bigger difficulty for the Russian.
Both are excellent fighters, the Mexican is undoubtedly one of the best of recent times and Bivol has a lot of class and strength, a rematch would undoubtedly be spectacular, you just have to know at what weight and how much time of adaptation they would have for that.
The Russian achieved something that only Floyd Mayweather Jr, had achieved. To beat Canelo with a spectacular defence. He entered the history of world pugilism with this extraordinary title defence, Will he manage to do it again?