Dmitry Bivol’s popularity will go through the roof if he wins his fight with Artur Beterbiev on October 12. Bivol will have a lot to gain if he wins because Canelo Alvarez says he is interested in fighting him in May, but not Beterbiev.
Canelo has run out of merchandise to fight at 168 without Terence Crawford, who would move up a weight class on payday. No one believes Crawford has a chance. This is just a money fight between Crawford and the promoter that they would play if Canelo agreed.
If Canelo stays at 168 for his next fight in May, this could be his choice if he chooses not to fight Crawford:
– Christian Mbili
– Diego Pacheco
– Caleb Plant
– Trevor McCumby
– Jermall Charlo
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) and IBF, WBC, and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) fight on ESPN+ in Riyadh.
It will take a lot for Bivol to beat Beterbiev because he can deal with movers. Bivol is a combination puncher, and those types don’t fare well compared to Beterbiev.
“If Bivol beats Beterbiev, it’s going to be a big fight because it’s almost impossible to have a bad fight with Artur Beterbiev,” said Chris Mannix on his podcast about the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol on October 12.
“Either Bivol is going to stop Beterbiev in that fight, or he’s going to have to go deep to win the decision. So, you will have momentum. “Not only will he have all the belts at 175, but he will have the momentum to come out of a great fight that a lot of people would have watched,” Mannix continued about the Bivol-Beterbiev fight.
Bivol’s stock will rise from a win over Beterbiev, making a rematch between him and Canelo huge with the fans. Of course, if Beterbiev wins, Canelo will have to come up with other plans because he is not interested in fighting him. That’s a dangerous fight for Canelo, and there wouldn’t be a revenge angle like there would be if he fought Bivol.
If Canelo loses to Beterbiev again, it could be a bad blow, and he loses again to avenge the loss to Bivol.
“Many people would see it on social media, and that is a bounce that they would benefit from. If Bivol wins, I think it will be Bivol [that Canelo Alvarez fights next May].
“Belts are not important, but calling yourself indisputably in another weight class is [175] or have the opportunity to do it. I think that’s important to Canelo, and I think he can push for that fight to happen. If he [Bivol] you lose [to Beterbiev]it should be Terence Crawford, but how is that fight made because it will cost $100 million to get in the ring at least?”
The fight between Canelo and Crawford will only happen if Turki Alalashikh wants it badly because Canelo is not interested in fighting Crawford. He sees it as an unwinnable battle because he will not get credit if he wins. No matter how good Canelo looks, the fans will criticize him afterwards.
Crawford is the only one who will come out on top in that fight. He will make his big payday and he will have an excuse to tell the fans if he loses.
All Crawford has to do is go the distance of 12 rounds or compete, and it would be a moral victory. It would be exactly the same as Edgar Berlanga, who is praised for going the full 12 rounds against Canelo, even though he lost every round. Even though Canelo won, he still doesn’t have much respect from the fans. Berlanga is one of his admirers, and he just survived. Crawford would do the same, and would later be honored for his bravery. I
“Does Turki Alalshikh have the desire to make that fight happen after Crawford was in a fight that wasn’t that exciting. [against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd]? “If Crawford had stopped Madrimov in the fifth round, I think that would have created a buzz for the Canelo fight,” said Mannix.
Crawford’s match against Madrimov on August 3 was a tough one and one of the more entertaining efforts on the entire card. Going into that fight, Crawford was not known or liked by casual boxing fans. He was only involved in one major fight his entire career, and that was against Errol Spence last year.
The PPV success of that fight was due to Spence. Crawford just came along for the ride, and contributed very little to that fight in terms of PPV buys. Casual fans don’t know who Crawford is, and they won’t be happy with Canelo’s selection. They would rather see Canelo fight David Benavidez and many other fighters than Crawford.
“But as it stands, Crawford came away with some kind of close win. I wonder if that made Turki Alalshikh say, ‘I will pay for this war, but I will not be too big for this war.
“I could have been wrong because Canelo has made it clear that if this fight is going to happen, it will happen according to his terms, and you will have to present him with a big purse,” more than $100 million for Turki to do the Canelo-Crawford fight because Canelo will want $100 million+ to agree to fight Crawford.
Canelo has said he wants $150 million, and even if he’s willing to take a little less, he’s probably still at $100M. With Crawford likely looking for the big bucks and his last fight against Israel Madrimov reportedly bringing in poor PPV numbers, it doesn’t sound realistic that a Canelo matchup is possible.
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