Canelo vs. Bivol: Dmitry’s camp waiting on catchweight confirmation between 168 – 175

WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and his team are waiting for Canelo Alvarez and his management to confirm what catchweight handicap between 168 – 175 he wants/needs for the September 18th fight.

Hopefully, Canelo doesn’t leave Bivol waiting for an answer on the weight for a few weeks because it will be difficult for him not to know what weight the Mexican star wants to contest the fight at.

Now the question is, will Canelo ask for a catchweight of 171.5 lbs, which would be the halfway point between 168 and 175, or will he want it lower?

In theory, Canelo could ask Bivol to come down to 169, and he would still be defending his WBA light heavyweight title at that weight. Yeah, it would look bad on Canelo’s part to fight Bivol below 171.5, but if his main objective is to make sure he gains an advantage, this is the way to do it.

Bivol may need to have the date moved back to give him time to lose the weight and get adjusted to the travel, according to Lance Pugmire. Will Canelo budge on the September 18th date?

That’s the Mexican holiday weekend, and he might not want to jump off of it.

When Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) challenged WBO 175-lb champion Sergey Kovalev in 2019, he didn’t need a catchweight, but for the Bivol fight, that’s what he reportedly wants.

Bivol, 30, may have inadvertently opened the door recently for the catchweight when he volunteered to come down to 168 to fight Canelo.

By Bivol saying that he was willing to come down to super middleweight to face the Mexican star, he gave him the idea to ask for the catchweight.

While it may seem like an altruistic move on Canelo’s part to agree to a catchweight between 168 and 175, he has to fight above 168 for him to have a chance to capture Bivol’s WBA light heavyweight title.

Canelo can’t win the belt if they fight at 168. Right now, Canelo is going through a mental belt kick phase in his career, wanting to only fight for world titles.

IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant was previously in the running to face Canelo on September 18th, but the negotiations fell apart last week. They haven’t been able to restart things.

At this point, you can argue that too much has been said from Plant’s side. Unfortunately, he may have burned his bridges by opening his mouth about some of the things Canelo was asking for in the negotiations.

Update on @canelo: The Dmitry Bivol camp is waiting for confirmation from the four-division champion on a catch-weight bout between 168 and 175 pounds. “Might have to move the date for Bivol to have enough time to travel, acclimate and make weight,” Bivol side says.

— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) August 4, 2021