Former trainer Abel Sanchez thinks Canelo Alvarez is too small to fight WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol again at 175.
At this point, Canelo hasn’t shown much interest in fighting Bivol in a rematch after losing to him last May.
Sanchez doesn’t need to warn Canelo about fighting Bivol again because he’s not exactly chomping at the bit to face him again after getting embarrassed earlier this year.
You can’t blame Canelo’s loss to Bivol based on his size because we just saw the Russian fighter easily beat the much bigger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez last Saturday night. Ramirez had just as much of a size advantage over Bivol as he did over Canelo.
Canelo lost to Bivol, not because of the size, but because he lacked sound boxing fundamentals. To compete with a fighter like Bivol, you need to be able to throw combinations, and Canelo couldn’t do that.
Sanchez feels that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) should return to the 168-lb division and face a couple of the younger fighters.
Without Sanchez naming who he has in mind for Canelo at super middleweight, it’s likely he’s referring to David Benavidez and David Morrell. Those two are the standout fighters at 168 now that Caleb Plant has been exposed and put in his place.
After watching Morrell’s performance last Saturday night, he would be a tough test for Canelo, and there’s a good chance he beats him.
“He should stay at 168. There are a couple of young lions at that weight that would like an opportunity at him,” said Abel Sanchez to Fighthype about what Canelo Alvarez should do next.
With the way that Morrell and Benavidez have looked recently, Canelo would be safer fighting Bivol in a rematch than battling either one of those guys.
At least against Bivol, Canelo won’t need to worry about being knocked out because he doesn’t go for the KO like Benavidez and Morrell typically do.
“That’s probably his best weight. 160 is a good weight too, but 175, they’re a little too big for him,” said Sanchez. “I would like for him to give some of those other young lions a chance.
“I have to give Bivol a lot of credit for what he’s done in his last two fights. It’s a difficult fight for Canelo. Bivol is a bigger guy, he’s a natural at that weight, and I think it would be a stretch for Canelo to beat him.
“Now that I’ve seen Bivol fight Zurdo, I think he’ll adapt to a lot of different styles and do what he has to do to win. He ventured up, and it was a little too big for him.
“All great champions like that aspire to move up and hopefully command those divisions, but he fought one of the best at that weight.
“It would have been a difficult fight for Bivol to come down to 168, but at 175, that was the weight for him. Canelo was just too small,” said Sanchez.
