Saul Canelo Alvarez states that he wants the September rematch against Dmitry Bivol at 175, not the 168-lb weight his promoter Eddie Hearn has discussed.
If Canelo is going to fight Bivol at 175, he will need to start bulking up immediately after his May 6th title defense against John Ryder. Canelo will need to put on more size because he’s going to be too small to be competitive against the undefeated Bivol like he was last time.
The Mexican star could easily force Bivol to come down to 168 to get the lucrative payday against him in the rematch, which he would likely agree to, but he wants the fight at the weight he fought last year at 175.
Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) lost to WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision in a successful attempt to capture his 175-lb title last May at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the same interview today, Canelo was asked if he’ll fight David Benavidez if he defeats Caleb Plant on March 25th, and he said, “We’ll see.”
If Canelo is going to dodge the Benavidez fight, he almost has to fight Bivol at 175 rather than 168 if he doesn’t want to get totally dumped on by fans. They would see it as really bad if Canelo chose not to fight Benavidez and forced the Bivol rematch at a strength-draining 168 lbs rather than at the weight that he lost to him at
“Everyone knows the rematch with Bivol is my goal, but we’ll see. We need to pass this fight first and then start talking about the fight with Bivol,” said Canelo to Fight Hub TV about his focus for 2023.
“175 because I feel I need to do in that terms,” Canelo said regarding what weight he’ll fight in the rematch with Bivol. “Look, every fight is good for me and for the fans. My goal now is Bivol, and then we’ll see,” Canelo said after being asked if he’ll fight Benavidez.
If Canelo loses to Bivol a second time, it will make it difficult for him to return to the ring to face Benavidez straightaway in his next fight.
Canelo would need another confidence booster, which would be bad for his boxing fans because they’ve seen him take seven out of his last nine fights against soft opposition.
The only tough opposition Canelo has had since his rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin in 2018 was Bivol and Caleb Plant.
