Eddie Hearn says he thinks unified IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev would be an easy fight for Canelo Alvarez than a rematch with WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol.
Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) doesn’t possess the boxing skills that Bivol has, but he’s a bigger puncher, and he’s very dangerous on the inside.
Canelo would likely try and fight Beterbiev in close, and it could badly for the Mexican star unless his bulldog ability to take punishment holds up.
It was thought that by some fans Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) learned his lesson about venturing up to the 175-lb division to tangle with the big boys after being dominated by Bivol last May in Las Vegas, but he hasn’t given up on the idea of fighting in that weight class.
Hearn says Canelo wants to avenge his loss to Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) after he defends his undisputed super middleweight championship against Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th.
The rematch with Bivol likely won’t happen until next May because Canelo is likely to take an easier fight in December against John Ryder if he successfully gets past Golovkin in their trilogy.
“I think Artur Beterbiev is an easier fight for Canelo Alvarez [than Dmitry Bivol]. Stylistically. Bivol beats Beterbiev,” said Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing Show in his belief that Beterbiev is an easier fight for Canelo Alvarez than a rematch with Dmitry Bivol.
As far as Beterbiev’s next fight against Anthony Yarde, which is being setup by Top Rank for October in London, Hearn views that fight as a pure 100% massacre waiting to happen.
Yarde was food for a shot WBO 175-lb champion Sergey Kovalev in 2019, losing to the over-the-hill champ by an 11th-round knockout.
What made the loss look even worse is Yarde was stopped from a jab by Kovalev. Since that fight, Yarde has been fighting domestic & weak European-level opposition, and he’s not shown any improvement. Yarde is now three years older and the same flawed fighter that Kovalev destroys in 2019.
“That’s a mismatch that fights, a total mismatch. He’s a good domestic fighter and had a good fight with [Sergey] Kovalev in Russia. Beterbiev’s a different animal,” said Hearn.
“It’s dangerous but it’s great news for us, for the fans, but it’s very dangerous because it’s a very dangerous fight,” said Hearn to Behind The Gloves when told that Canelo might try and knockout Gennadiy Golovkin early on September 17th.
“Gennadiy Golovkin is one of the biggest punchers pound-for-pound in the sport. Canelo has made it clear, ‘I’m going straight for the knockout.’
“I don’t think this fight will go 12 rounds because I do believe that he’ll [Canelo] do what he said, but I think Gennadiy Golovkin is very dangerous. I think it’s going to be a very dangerous fight.
“It’s dangerous. He’s coming off the Bivol defeat, and there’s a lot of pressure on,” Hearn said of Canelo Alvarez coming off his a loss to Bivol on May 7th. “His tank didn’t look that full in the Bivol fight.
“People talk about Gennadiy Golovkin’s last [poor] performance [against WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata], look at Canelo Alvarez’s last performance.
“Bivol was great, but he needs to come back and win this fight. We’re planning his next fight now, and that’ll probably be in October,” said Hearn when asked about Bivol’s next contest.
“Of course, he [Bivol] wants the rematch and Canelo wants the rematch, but he has to deal with GGG first.
“Gilberto Ramirez is there, Joshua Buatsi is there, Callum Smith, and they are all great fighters. We’re planning that and hopefully, we have an announcement soon,” said Hearn when asked who Bivol will fight next.
“As I said, he [Canelo] has to handicap himself to lose. He moved up to 175, and it was a very tough ask. He fought, in my opinion, the very best 175-pounder in the sport, but we should respect him for trying to be great,” said Hearn.
