Roy Jones Jr. says Canelo Alvarez showed that he’s back at full strength now with his victory over Jermell Charlo last Saturday night, and he’d like to see him rematch Dmitry Bivol at 168 next, but not at 175.
Jones Jr. feels that 175 is not a good weight for Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) to be fighting at, especially against a fighter like Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs), who holds the WBA light heavyweight title and looked dominant, beating Alvarez last year.
Bivol has already volunteered to move down to 168 to even things out with Canelo so that he can’t complain about fighting him out of his natural weight class as he did last year after his defeat.
It’s important that Canelo take a fight against a high-level opponent like Bivol next, as his last three contests have been gimmes against 154-pounder Jermell, John Ryder, and 41-year-old past his best Gennadiy Golovkin.
If Canelo doesn’t fight Bivol, he should face the David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade winner. Those two are fighting on November 25th.
The other option for Canelo is Terence Crawford, but he’s welterweight and has never fought above 147. If Canelo fights him, it would make it obvious that he’s swerving the dangerous guys at 168 and avoiding trying to avenge his loss to Bivol.
Canelo should fight Bivol in rematch at 168
“It was a great fight. It was what we sort of expected. Canelo’s definitely the bigger fighter, the stronger fighter. So you got to know that the fight plan would have been different if I had him, but everybody got to try what they got to try,” said Roy Jones Jr. to Boxing Social, reacting to Canelo Alvarez’s win over Jermell Charlo.
“He [Jermell] did a great job. He showed a lot of heart going up two weight classes to fight Canelo, and Canelo looked as good as he’s ever looked before,” Jones Jr. continued.
The $20 million+ payday that Jermell (35-2-1, 19 KOs) reportedly got for the fight with Canelo obviously makes it easier for him to show the courage to move up two weight classes.
When you’re getting that kind of money, a fighter will do all kinds of things that they normally wouldn’t.
“He looks like he’s back in form, his punching power is back, and he looks like he’s ready to keep going. That’s boxing. They always right you off,” said Jones Jr. when told that a lot of people wrote Canelo off after his loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol last year.
“The first time you lose, the second time you lose, they throw you out in the pasture, but he [Canelo] showed them tonight that he’s not done.
“He’s got a lot more left in him, and he showed that tonight. He’s got plenty more left in him. People in boxing are bad about throwing guys to the wolves after they lose.
“Sometimes you fight a better fighter, especially if you fight anybody that comes. He’s [Canelo] fighting all comers. So what you expect to happen?
“He went up in weight to challenge himself. He went up as high as he could go to challenge himself [against WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol.] Once he realized that was his ceiling, he come back down, got back to form, and kept doing what he do. What’s wrong with that?
“Does that mean you lost a step? No, it don’t. He lost to a light heavyweight. No,” said Jones Jr. when asked if Canelo should take the rematch with Bivol now. “At 168, yeah. He looked good at 168. Not at 175. He should do it at 168 if he’s going to do it,” said Jones Jr. about a rematch with Bivol.
