By Craig Daly: Eddie Hearn says Dmitry Bivol could go down to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship.
Hearn says Bivol (21-0, 10 KOs) wants to fight Canelo for all four of his 168-pound titles after he defends his WBA light heavyweight title against mandatory challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez on Nov. 5 in Abu Dhabi. Dhabi.
Ultimately, it could come down to what Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) prefers for the weight of his rematch with Bivol. Canelo recently said that he would like the rematch with Bivol to take place at 175 instead of 168, which makes sense.
If Bivol drops to 168 and defeats Canelo in a battle for his undisputed crown, it would leave him without a belt and look bad losing to the talented Russian at super middleweight.
There is less of an excuse Canelo could give his fans if he were beaten at 168 by Bivol. Canelo couldn’t blame the loss on being smaller than Bivol because with him going down to 168, the only advantage he would have over Canelo is height and reach.
Bivol is a combo puncher with excellent movement, power and stamina. He’s basically kryptonite for Canelo, who fell apart against him last May with Bivol fighting second gear the entire time.
If you had to create a fighter from scratch to defeat Canelo, you would come up with Bivol. It’s designed to take down a fighter like Canelo and make it look easy.
Had Bivol switched gears to third and fourth, he probably would have stopped Canelo.
When Bivol unloaded a seven-punch combination on Canelo when he was on the ropes in the fifth, it looked like he might have finished him off.
After throwing all those punches, Bivol was barely breathing and it looked like he might have come back with a longer barrage that would have forced the referee to step in to save Canelo.
Interestingly, Canelo is rooting for Gilberto Ramirez to defeat Bivol on November 5 because he wants to back his fellow Mexican.
However, it doesn’t look like Ramirez can solve Canelo’s problem against Bivol because he’s too slow at 175.
Ramirez was a good fighter at 168, but he’s put on a lot of weight since moving up to 175, and he’s getting incredibly slow.
Ramirez’s lack of speed will put him at a huge disadvantage against Bivol, and he is likely to be easily beaten by a one-sided decision.
“Yes, near the scorecards. I didn’t score it that way, but a round difference is a draw,” Eddie Hearn told Matchroom Boxing of the scores for the trilogy fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin last Saturday night.
“Dmitry Bivol is the target. Obviously, he will want to avenge that loss, but Bivol has a very tough fight against Zurdo Ramirez on November 5.
“We’ll have to see if he tops that, but I think for Canelo Alvarez, that will always be in the back of his mind to see if he can avenge that loss.
“I don’t think Canelo Alvarez is looking at 175 as a division that he necessarily wants to come back to and win belts, but he wants Zurdo Ramirez to beat Bivol for Mexico, but he also wants Bivol to win so he can get a chance to rematch him.
“Don’t rule out the possibility of Bivol going down to 168 to fight for the undisputed title because he wants to do that too. You have to see, but November 5 in Abu Dhabi is a very important date for the division’s agenda.
“It was packed in there tonight, and the atmosphere was amazing. Alejandro Fernández was there singing. It was an incredible experience.
“Two bigs [Canelo & Golovkin], and some great fights on the undercard as well. It was great to see Canelo get a win.
“Gennadiy will be kicking himself for the slow start. Canelo stood out in the first half of the fight. People talk about it being a slow start from Gennadiy, but Canelo’s movement was unbelievable.
“He frustrated Gennadiy Golovkin, who entered the fight at the back. He hit a good shot, Canelo Alvarez. It looks like he broke his left hand, but I thought he was a deserving winner.
“I probably had it 9-3, something like that. Gennadiy finished the fight strong, but Canelo Alvarez did too much damage in the first half of the fight.
“He’s probably not the fighter he was four, five, six years ago, but few are when they get to that stage in their career,” Hearn said of Golovkin. “But he boxed extremely well in the second half of the fight.
“Only in the first half of the fight, Canelo’s movement was too good. He barely gave Gennadiy Golovkin a round in the first six rounds. When he got into the fight, he looked dangerous.
“I was forcing the pace. By then, there were too many rounds in the bank. [for Canelo]. So yeah, sure, Gennadiy Golovkin is no longer in his prime, but you can’t take away the quality of Canelo Alvarez.
“His movement was fantastic and he was the deserved winner. Yes cool. That is always important in boxing. They also hugged each other after the first and second fights, but some things were still said.
“It all depends on the interviews that come in the future. They are guys with too much class, also legends of the sport, and they always give everything.
“I don’t know,” Hearn said when asked what Golovkin should do now. “There will be a lot of people saying that Golovkin is nearing the end of his career, but he just stopped. [Ryota] Murata in Japan to unify the [160-lb] division.
“So, you’re talking about him fighting the brilliance of Canelo Alvarez. Can he come back and unify the division again or become undisputed middleweight, or will it be the end of the road for Gennadiy Golovkin?
“Obviously that’s up to him and his family to decide what’s next,” Hearn said of GGG.
“Yes, I think that hand has been bothering him. [Canelo] since a time ago. Whether it’s broken or not, that’s the conversation, and it may require surgery. Obviously, we are in September. It is highly unlikely that he will box again until May.
“It was a good performance. He boxed a little bit more than I expected, and I think that frustrated Rosado,” Hearn said of super middleweight contender Ali Akhmedov’s 10-round unanimous decision victory over Gabe Rosado, who entered the fight late.
“It was a good victory. I think it’s three wins for Ali Akhmedov after Góngora’s loss. Look, Rosado wins and loses. I am sure he will come back.
“I still had it very close at the end,” Hearn said of the Ammo Williams-Kieron Conway fight. “Perhaps Ammo was a bit lucky in making a decision. I think Kieron needed to do more. That’s something in these fights.
“Against Souleymane Cissokho, and tonight, he had a chance to do more and try to win that fight. Ammo may have a bit of luck tonight. I think a draw would be more fair to both, but the knockdown was a huge turning point in the fight.
“[Diego] Pacheco was exceptional. Marc Castro was also outstanding. Greetings to Aaron Aponte and Fernando Molina. That was an amazing fight, and they both put their undefeated record on the line,” said Hearn.
