Canelo Alvarez says he wants a rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol after losing to him by a 12-round unanimous decision last Saturday night.
Canelo didn’t look good, as he was beaten to the punch all night.
“We talked going into this fight about how good Dmitry Bivol is and how tough this fight was. It was a punch-perfect performance,” said Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing.
“He [Bivol] had to box exactly how he did to win the fight,” Hearn continued. “The judges had it right. For me, he won the fight. Did Canelo look a little bit flat? Did he look tired? I think it was the brilliance of Dmitry Bivol.
“You saw his arms after the fight. He caught nearly everything on his gloves. His defense was outstanding, and his feet were great. He was aggressive enough in the fight to win the rounds and a big, big shock.
“Tonight belongs to Dmitry Bivol. He felt like he was a stepping stone to Gennadiy Golovkin, and he was for the career plans of Canelo Alvarez.
“Right now, look at him in the changing room. What a night for him. He dreamed of this, got the opportunity, and became a truly great tonight, beating the pound-for-pound #1.
“Honestly, probably not,” said Hearn when asked if he thought that Bivol had this type of capability. “There are a lot of fighters that came off of performances during the pandemic, before the pandemic, and they looked a little bit flat.
“If you looked at Dmitry Bivol’s performances against Craig Richards and before that against [Lenin] Castillo. Those performances didn’t tell you that form would beat Canelo Alvarez.
“When you have a special fighter like Dmitry Bivol, if they produce on the night, they can win these big fights. Tonight, he produced on unbelievable levels.
“He had to produce the perfect performance at the right time, and he did it. Yeah, we have a rematch clause in this fight, but it’s down to Saul ultimately to activate it.
“To be honest, you can’t advise Canelo Alvarez because he wants the challenges,” said Hearn when asked if he would advise exercising his rematch with Bivol.
“It’s almost like he wants to handicap himself to be in these tough fights. He’s ruled at 160 and ruled at 168. I said in the build-up that he has no right to be at 175. You saw that tonight.
“If he’s going to trigger that rematch clause, and I fully expect him to do. He’s going to have to come back with a brilliant performance. Bivol’s confidence will be on another level.
“Yes, we know the plans for Gennadiy Golovkin. That’s on the shelf. The big rematch in September between Bivol and Canelo Alvarez is now,” said Hearn.
