Former world champion Ricky Hatton believes that Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez can unify the light heavyweight division.
The junior welterweight, and welterweight, champion thinks that his showing against Sergey Kovalev at 175lbs is enough evidence to show that he can collect more belts, first against Dmitry Bivol and then the rest of the division.
Canelo vs. Bivol is live on DAZN in most regions (check here), and while Hatton thinks the Mexican faces a tougher fight in his second light heavyweight contest, he will still be victorious.
“I think Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez can go on and unify the light-heavyweight division after beating Dmitry Bivol this weekend,” he wrote in the Metro. “Having said that, I think this will be the toughest fight of his career since losing to Floyd Mayweather.
“He showed against Sergey Kovalev in 2019 he can carry the weight with him and put it on against a much bigger guy. I do think Bivol is a bit fresher than Kovalev, a bit sharper and of course undefeated.
“When Canelo boxed Kovalev, I thought he was ever so slightly behind on the scorecards before the finish came. But as he so often does, he looked like he could put his foot down at any time that night and got Kovalev out of there.
“He has certainly got the power and strength to move through the weights and that is also due to his fantastic defensive ability. He deflects the weight advantage his rivals sometimes have by making his man connect with fresh air.
“That is why Floyd was able to move through and fight bigger men because of that skill. It is alright having that weight advantage and that extra weight on the punches but if they are not landing, it doesn’t matter. Canelo can do that to people.”
Hatton predicted the fight will go the distance, but Canelo will be declared the winner.
“I think Canelo will win on points on Saturday, I think it will be very competitive, but I think he will find enough to do it,” he explained.
“I see it being one of those fights where he takes control in the ninth or 10th round and puts his foot down. He just knows when to do that.
“In terms of how far he can go through the weights, I don’t know about heavyweight, but he might go to cruiserweight. But Canelo will just take it as it goes. He is in no rush. It seems he has been around forever having turned professional at 15 but he has been able to hit and not get hit throughout his career so he can go on as long as he likes. As long as he has got the hunger.”