Eddie Hearn says the rematch between Canelo Alvarez and WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol isn’t “definite” for next year because both fighters have fights they need to win this year before the two can meet in May 2023.
For starters, Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) has a fight scheduled against his old nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th, and no one knows how that one will end up.
If Canelo is shell-shocked from his loss to Bivol last May, Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) can capitalize on that. It’s unclear what Canelo’s game plan was for the Bivol fight, but he looked far worse in that defeat than he did in losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013.
If age has finally started creeping up on Canelo, GGG can take advantage of that with his power, jab, and boxing skills.
What’s missing from Golovkin’s game that Bivol possesses is the ability to throw combinations, movement, and fearlessness. Bivol fought with more courage against Canelo than Golovkin did.
Bivol didn’t hold back from attacking Canelo for fear of getting countered in the way Golovkin did in his two fights.
“The fact is, to fight Canelo Alvarez, Bivol might have to fight [Joshua] Buatsi and Zurdo [Ramirez], said Hearn to the DAZN Boxing Show. “That fight’s not a definite because we can’t just wait until May. It’s impossible, and there’s so much risk in those fights.
Over the last couple of years, Canelo’s method of winning fights has become basic, with him walking his opponents down behind a high guard and winning single power shots. We already saw that approach for Canelo didn’t work against Bivol.
The World Boxing Association has ordered WBA 175-lb champion Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) to defend against #1 contender Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez next.
That fight won’t be a piece of cake for Bivol because Ramirez is essentially a cruiserweight who can still melt down to 175 to compete in that weight class. If Bivol makes the same mistakes in his fight with Canelo against Ramirez, he’ll lose.
“Hopefully, Canelo and ‘GGG’ have a tremendous fight in September, and if Canelo wins, he’ll go and look for that rematch, but Bivol is going to be fighting too,” said Hearn.” Also, don’t forget, Bivol also wants the Beterbiev fight.”
It almost sounds like Hearn is hoping the Canelo vs. Bivol rematch doesn’t happen. You can understand that point of view because it doesn’t help Hearn if Canelo gets beaten again. After all, he promotes him.
If Canelo and Anthony Joshua’s careers evaporate this year, who does Hearn have left that can grab the baton from those two to be the money-maker for Matchroom Boxing?
