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Canelo Alvarez revealed during an open workout recently that he wants his rematch with Dmitriy Bivol to be contested at the light heavyweight division’s limit, just like their first fight.
Promoter Eddie Hearn and Bivol’s manager, Vadim Kornilov, have publicly discussed the Mexican icon boxing Bivol in the super middleweight division, which would afford Bivol an opportunity to becoming the undisputed 168-pound champion. Alvarez is concerned, though, that his detractors wouldn’t give him credit for beating Bivol if the undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion were to drop down seven pounds for their rematch.
When asked during the abovementioned open workout at his gym in San Diego if battling Bivol at super middleweight would give him an advantage, Alvarez replied, “Yes, but everyone will start f——- talking. Everyone is going to f——- start saying, ‘Oh, but he brought him down [in weight]. That’s why [Bivol] lost. But they didn’t say anything when I went up [in weight]. But it’s the same thing.”
Alvarez voluntarily moved up to the light heavyweight division for the second time to challenge Bivol last May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The four-division champion knocked out former WBO champ Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round of his previous light heavyweight title fight in November 2019 and was mostly listed as a 4-1 favorite to beat Bivol.
The determined, skilled Russian clearly outboxed Alvarez, however, and won their 12-round fight unanimously. Judges Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld scored their fight identically, 115-113 for Bivol.
Alvarez didn’t exercise his contractual right to an immediate rematch. He instead defeated rival Gennadiy Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) by unanimous decision in his most recent appearance, a 12-round, 168-pound championship match September 17 at T-Mobile Arena.
The 32-year-old Alvarez nevertheless is expected to face Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) again in September if he beats John Ryder on Saturday night at a sold-out Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico, just outside of Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara. Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is scheduled to defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against England’s Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs), who is the mandatory challenger for Alvarez’s WBO belt.
DAZN will stream Alvarez-Ryder as the main event of a pay-per-view show in the United States.
DAZN subscribers in the U.S. can purchase the Alvarez-Ryder show for $59.99, in addition to a one-month subscription ($19.99 or $24.99). The card headlined by Alvarez-Ryder also is available via cable and satellite companies for $79.99.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.