Dmitry Bivol says he’s still open to a fight against Canelo Alvarez next if he can’t fight for a belt, but he prefers to have the opportunity to capture another strap at 175.
Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) wants to fight for Canelo’s 168-lb undisputed championship that he still holds, but thus far, the Mexican star has resisted that idea.
The fight with Bivol has been talked about so much by Canelo’s promoter Eddie Hearn, so it’s hard to believe he would duck him.
Canelo wants the rematch with Bivol at 175 in September, or at least that’s what he says. It’s thought that Canelo will fight Hearn’s new signee Edgar Berlanga in September if he wins his debut with Matchroom Boxing on June 24th against Jason Quigley.
Berlanga is hugely popular in the New York area, and his fight with Quigley will be at the big room at Madison Square Garden.
In contrast, Teofimo Lopez, a fighter who has accomplished more in his career than Berlanga and a New Yorker, fought in the small room at the Hula Theater at MSG last Saturday night against Josh Taylor.
If Canelo chooses not to fight Bivol, which it appears to be the case, then Berlanga could be his opponent in September if he gets past Quigley.
Bivol’s management believes that Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) is faking interest in fighting him again, and they see view his insistence on having the same terms as their previous contest as a dead giveaway that he’s not really interested in the rematch.
The problem that Canelo has is that if he doesn’t take the rematch with Bivol in September, his popularity could take a huge hit if he doesn’t fight David Benavidez.
The boxing public already thinks Canelo has been ducking Benavidez for a long time. Unfortunately, he can’t see an injury excuse again to avoid taking on a quality opponent as he did in his last fight against tune-up opponent John Ryder on May 6th.
“Yeah, if we don’t have any chances to fight against another one for another belt or for, of course, I will fight him, but I’m not. I don’t want the. I’m not so hungry for this fight at 175,” said Dmitry Bivol to iFL TV when asked if he’d still be interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez next if he can’t get the undisputed championship fight against Artur Beterbiev.
“I already beat him, and I like my positions now. We could make this fight before, but he made two fights [Gennadiy Golovkin and Jon Ryder], and I don’t think much about Canelo fights.
“Only I talk about him only because you are asking me, all of you asking me about him, but in my head, I have my own way. I want to fight for the belt,” said Bivol.
