Canelo loses to bivol by unanimous decision.
Bivol catches Canelo with one of many good shots in the fight to score UD in 12.
Dmitry Bivol VS. Canelo Alvarez was one for the ages. This 12 round thriller was action packed with lots of hard hitting, rapid combinations and great back and forth momentum that saw Bivol take home a unanimous decision victory over the former light heavyweight champion Canelo Saturday night, May 7th, at the T-Moblile arena in Las Vegas.
Canelo from the start of the bell clearly wanted to come out and assert his dominance in round 1, being a lot more aggressive and throwing hard power shots a lot more frequent than his usual feel out nature he approaches most of his fights with. Bivol, however, seemed more than willing to match him in trading shots, while also continuing to fight with his boxing ability and his calm poise he always fights with in every fight.
Dmitry Bivol being named the winner in his unanimous decision over Canelo.
Canelo seemed to be in control of the fight early in rounds 1 through five, seeming to build his rhythm as the rounds went. However, Bivol stayed poised, started landing heavy shots during the 5th round and really began to take contol of the fight in round 5 landing big shots that seemed to stun Canelo. From then on, it did not seem like Bivol lost control of the fight at any point, even when Canelo landed good shots.
Canelo seemed winded and bothered by the weight, hinting in the press conference that he may go back down to 168 to face Gennady (GGG) Golovkin again in a trilogy rematch. When asked if he will continue to fight at 175 pounds his answer was, “My most natural and comfortable weight is 168 so we have to see if we’re going to go and take on this rematch.” He seemed to not favor being at 175 any longer and expressed his desire to step down.
This was Canelo’s second loss of his career, first losing to now retired and former 147 pound Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. When asked about his second loss to Bivol and whether it had an effect on him he said “No I feel like I can come out with my head held high. I’m looking for challenges that take me outside my comfort zone.” When asked if he would take a rematch right away with Bivol or fight GGG, who was supposed to be his next fight after Saturday night, Canelo took the “wait and see” approach.
There were many directions Canelo could have taken after this fight, also giving Bivol a rematch, and he also discussed desires prior to the Bivol fight to face the #2 heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, which Usyk said he would be open to. However now what would seem likely is the rematch with Bivol and then maybe a GGG fight after.
Bivol the champion, was very relaxed and happy about his win during the press conference. He stated that while everyone’s belief that Canelo would win was okay and “normal” he knew that he would win. He stated that “I beat a guy who wanted my belt. I’m not the King, I’m just better than him.”
Floyd Mayweather clearly agreed with Bivol, posting a screenshot of him winning a bet he up on Bivol against Canelo. He stated the bet was “Easy Pick Up”, saying that he knew Bivol would beat Canelo, with most of the boxing world agreeing with him as well.
When asked what fight he wanted next boxing promoter of Bivol, Eddie Hearn stated “I would believe this has to be the biggest fight in boxing”, seemingly giving notice that there would be a rematch between Canelo and Bivol again soon. Let’s all get ready to see another explosive and action packed fight for a second time later this year.