Trainer Joel Diaz says he’s not surprised that Canelo Alvarez chose to go in the direction of 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin rather than taking a rematch with Dmitry Bivol following his loss last May.
Diaz feels that WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) would beat Canelo in a second fight, be it at 175 or 168. Bivol is just a better fighter, and it doesn’t have anything to do with size.
As Diaz points out, Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) outweighed Bivol by three points on the night of their fight on May 7th, so tells that his loss wasn’t because of him being at a size disadvantage.
Diaz feels that it would be “bad” for boxing if Canelo were to fight Bivol again and lose for a second. Canelo is a huge star, and it wouldn’t be good for the sport to have him beaten in a rematch with the talented Bivol.
As such, Diaz thinks that Canelo WON’T return to the 175-lb division for a second turn with Bivol after he faces Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) in their trilogy match on September 17th in Las Vegas.
The way that Canelo’s trainer Eddy Reynoso was talking on Tuesday in an interview, it sounds like the Mexican star won’t take the rematch with Bivol, and will focus on other fighters.
Canelo heavier than Bivol
“We believed Bivol was going to win the fight,” said trainer Joel Diaz to Pro Boxing Fans about Dmitry Bivol’s win over Canelo Alvarez on May 7th.
No,” said Diaz when asked if he thought Canelo would fight Bivol next instead of him choosing to fight Gennady Golovkin. “Businesswise, it’s not a good call for Canelo. I knew he wasn’t going to go for a rematch.
“The reason why is if he fights Bivol again in a rematch, he’ll lose again. Stylistically, Canelo will NOT beat Bivol, even at 168.
“That night, he [Canelo] walked inside the ring at 165 when Bivol walked into the ring at 162. Dmitry Bivol, being the heavier fighter, he walked into the ring lighter.
“He doesn’t have a problem to fighting at 168. If they fight at 168, Dmitry Bivol won’t have any problems beating him, and it’s NOT good for boxing right now.
“That’s why Canelo went around and he’s going to face for the third time Gennadiy Golovkin, but now it’s been four years. In four years a lot of things happen, and one of the most important things is Gennadiy aged.
“Now is the time for Canelo Alvarez to show what he’s made of, which the first two fights for some people, GGG won, and some thought it was a draw.
“I think in this one, Canelo should make it clear that he should win. Honestly, I think Canelo should stop Gennadiy Golovkin before the tenth round,” Diaz said.
Diaz doubts Canelo will fight Bivol again
“I really don’t know. It all depends on the management because there are a lot of talks between Dmitry Bivol and Zurdo Ramirez, but we don’t know yet,” said Diaz when asked if Canelo will fight Bivol in a rematch AFTER his September 17th trilogy match against Golovkin.
“I let them deal with the business and we’ll just wait. But I don’t think Canelo beating Golovkin, I honestly doubt he’ll come back to Bivol,” said Diaz.
Many fans also believe Canelo won’t bother fighting Bivol again, and will come up with some excuse for why he chose not to take the rematch.
At this point, you can’t rule out an upset win for Golovkin because Canelo has lost a lot from his game since 2020. His work rate is down, and his stamina is arguably at an all-time worst. He looked exhausted after three rounds against Bivol, and they weren’t fighting at a super-fast pace.
“[Artur] Beterbiev is a tough fighter, he’s very tough. He’s an aggressive, solid, strong fighter,” said Diaz when asked about his thoughts about an undisputed 175-lb championship clash between IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) and WBA champion Bivol.
“A potential fight between him [Beterbiev] and Bivol, Dmitry Bivol has a better skill, a better boxing IQ. Honestly, I think Bivol will beat Beterbiev because of his style. He’s a smarter fighter and has great footwork.
“Beterbiev is strong. He’s a come forward, strong, heavy puncher, but with a good strategy, I have no doubt in my mind that Dmitry Bivol will beat him,” said Diaz.
Bivol getting the nod surprised Joel
“Honestly, through the whole camp when we started training with Dmitry Bivol and we started talking about the fight. The only thing was Canelo being the favorite. To me, I was going to bet on the draw,” said Diaz about doubting Bivol would be given the victory against Canelo on May 7th.
“I said, ‘Dmitry Bivol is going to win by decision, but they’re not going to give it to him. We’re going to walk out of that ring with a draw,’ but Dmitry Bivol, to me, going back and watching the fight again, he won nine rounds, max eight,” said Diaz.
All three judges turning in an identical 115-113 score for the Canelo vs. Bivol fight was seen as strange by a lot of boxing fans because the contest appeared to be an 11-1 or 10-2 match, won by Dmitry.
For the judges to give Canelo five rounds in a fight where he was lucky to get two, it’s troubling. Diaz wasn’t too far off with his prediction of Bivol not being given the victory because you can argue that if he didn’t dominate Canelo as badly as he did, he would have lost or wound up with a draw, as Golovkin did in his two fights with the Mexican star.
“I gave Canelo three, maybe four, but Dmitry Bivol won the bet,” said Diaz. “The judges did what they had to do. He made it clear that he won the fight, and his whole team walked out with a victory. That was great.
“That was concerning,” said Diaz when asked what his thoughts were when he heard the ‘115-113’ set of scores from ALL three judges after the Canelo vs. Bivol fight.
“When you hear those kinds of numbers and you have a feeling that you won the fight, it is a little bit of a worry because you feel like, ‘Here we go with those kinds of numbers.’
“I’m happy for Dmitry Bivol, who worked really good, worked really hard, and prepared himself physically & mentally. He had that mentality that he could beat Canelo Alvarez,” said Diaz.
