There are few people who predicted what took place on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Canelo Alvarez losing to Dmitry Bivol was a huge upset that came as a massive surprise to me. I’ve always been aware that Bivol is a very good fighter, but to beat Canelo then you have to be exceptional. He was, and he was worthy of the victory last weekend.
He boxed to plan brilliantly and one of the most important things to remember is that he wasn’t scared. I’ve seen people in the trade say that it was down to size. Don’t listen to them. Bivol entered that ring knowing he could win. A lot of Canelo’s recent opponents are defeated before the first bell has even gone. A fighter with a big will to win and incredible belief is hard to beat, and Bivol had both.
The question I’ve heard a lot since Saturday night is ‘what will Canelo do next?’ His 2022 appeared to be straightforward with Bivol and Gennadiy Golovkin back-to-back before a potential fight in Britain in December. Who knows what will happen next? Bivol’s win has led to talks of an immediate rematch, but is one necessary after what went down Saturday night?
Canelo will believe he can win a rematch and if he chooses to go down that route then it must be at light-heavyweight again. Bivol has made some noise about going down to super-middleweight, but if I was Canelo then I'd rule that out. If Canelo is to settle this rivalry and even the score, he has to do it at 175lbs. That’s where he took his loss and that’s where he has to get the win.
The competitor in him will desperately want to put this right and he’ll definitely see ways he can improve in a potential rematch. Being busier, not waiting on the ropes, going to Bivol’s body more in the early rounds. Canelo and Eddy Reynoso will review the fight footage and see ways they can win, but would it be wise to go back to the scene of his second career loss when he can revisit it a later date after settling another rivalry?
For me, the Golovkin trilogy just got a tiny bit more intriguing despite what I’ve said in this column just a few weeks ago after ‘GGG’ beat Ryota Murata. Then, it looked like Canelo would be a huge favourite in that fight, but will Saturday’s loss against Bivol make Canelo a little more vulnerable going into his next fight?
The Floyd Mayweather loss back in 2013 opened Canelo’s eyes to what the elite level looks like, and he took that defeat and made it work for him. For the best part of the last decade, Canelo has been the sport’s best fighter, but now he must come back from adversity and prove he’s the best, just like he did after losing to Mayweather.
The Golovkin fight in September for all the belts at 168lbs is the perfect fight for him to prove that he’s still a dominant force in the sport and then he can shift his focus back to Bivol. If he can emerge from both fights victorious then he’ll shake the heartache of last weekend, but defeat against either man may mean the scars from Saturday’s loss will be visible for quite a while.