Canelo Alvarez says he wants a rematch with Dmitry Bivol in May 2025 if he defeats Artur Beterbiev in their undisputed light heavyweight title fight on October 12. Alvarez will still need to win his fight with Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night to meet Bivol in May coming.
(Credit: Ryan Hafey & Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
If Canelo takes a fight with Bivol next, it could be another way to get back at David Benavidez, who is the WBC’s mandatory light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in that organization.
Benavidez is hoping to fight the winner of Bivol-Beterbiev next. Canelo could confuse Benavidez by fighting Bivol, knock him out, and give up four belts.
That would have scattered them, preventing Benavidez from catching them all at once as he had hoped. However, no one expects Benavidez to defeat the winner of Bivol vs. Beterbiev looked a bang for his buck in his debut at 175 on May 18th, working his way to a dubious 12 count over Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) doesn’t say why he won’t want to fight Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) if he wins against Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) with their undisputed. to fight.
It’s possible that Canelo’s only focus is avenging his 12-round decision loss to Bivol on May 7, 2022. All three judges scored the fight evenly, 115-113. That was really strange.
They also swept Canelo in the first four rounds, and few fans agreed with that. I watched the fight and beat Bivol by a wide margin of 120-108. The most logical reason Canelo wants Bivol is that Beterbiev is a dangerous puncher and can knock him out.
That’s not how Canelo would like to lose. At least with Bivol, the only thing Canelo has to worry about is losing by decision because he’s not a puncher. Bivol is afraid of being hit, and always runs when attacked. Beterbiev wouldn’t do that if Canelo attacked him. He stood firm and covered him with a tarp, throwing him out in a humiliating manner.
“When I spoke to Canelo yesterday, he said he wants Dmitry Bivol next, as long as Bivol beats Beterbiev on October 12 in Riyadh in a undisputed light heavyweight championship,” said Mike Coppinger on X, referring to Canelo Alvarez. fight Dmitry Bivol if he defeats Artur Beterbiev in their rematch on October 12.
For this fight to have a chance to happen, not only must Bivol defeat Beterbiev, but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh must also agree to it. There is already talk of Bivol and Beteriev fighting an instant rematch. Even if they don’t, Turki may prefer the winner to fight WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez next. Turki will decide which fight will take place, not Canelo.
“What’s great about that fight, if it happens, is that it’s really a departure from Canelo’s last three or four fights. That’s a fight where Canelo will be the decided underdog. I thought when he was fighting [Bivol] in May 2022, that was a 10-2, 9-3 fight that was the best for Canelo,” Coppiner said.
If a rematch happens, Bivol will be the clear favorite over Canelo, and yes, it would be a departure from the guys Alvarez has counted in his last four fights. But it is still unclear whether Bivol will get past Beterbiev on October 12 because he has looked fresh and intense in recent fights. Lyndon Arthur was injured by Bivol last December, and appeared shy in his last bout against lesser known opponent Malik Zinad on June 1st.
“Canelo says, ‘Look, I know I can beat him. I’m a better fighter.’ I said, ‘Your hand is hurt, isn’t it?’ ‘Not just my hand. Everything was off,’ and you can see that the loss still haunts him,” Coppinger said of Canelo’s loss to Bivol two years ago.
Canelo’s hand injury is not the reason why he lost the Bivol fight. He was too small for Bivol, and couldn’t handle a combination of strikes from the light heavyweight champion in better shape. Canelo looked tired in the third round and was being hammered by Bivol who looked like he was fighting in first gear.
“I think for a guy who’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and a standout, that’s the battle that defines the real legacy. If you can beat a pound-for-pound guy like Bivol, who was coming off a win over Beterbiev and who will be the undisputed champion, Canelo could be challenged at second weight. I think that would be huge, and again, no one is going to pick Canelo in that fight,” Coppinger said.
I doubt Canelo’s real reason for wanting to fight Bivol is to take the undisputed light heavyweight title. The real reason is that he will be paid dearly for that fight by His Highness Turki Alalshikh, and he will have a built-in excuse if he loses.
Canelo may suspect that he is moving up in weight to 175. Finally, Canelo could take the fight out from under Benavidez’s nose for revenge.
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