Canelo Alvarez is not used to losing. He hates it when it rarely happens. Last time out, in May, it happened, as Dmitry Bivol proved to be too good, and too big, for the Mexican star. Now, heading into his grudge-match finale with Gennady Golovkin, Canelo has a plan. According to Eddie Hearn, who spoke once again on The MMA Hour, Canelo’s goal is to beat GGG in September (preferably by career-ending stoppage) and then go “straight into the Bivol rematch.”
Hearn, a self-confessed “Canelo fanboy,” says we should be applauding Canelo for the manner in which he has, and is, daring to be great. Hearn doesn’t understand the criticism some people (Oscar De La Hoya, for one) have hurled at Canelo for moving up to 175 pounds and fighting Bivol.
“He’s beaten everyone at middleweight. He’s beaten everyone at super-middleweight. He wants to do something different, he wants to test himself,” Hearn said of Canelo. “All of a sudden, you get beat and, ‘It’s a terrible mistake. You shouldn’t have done it. You should have taken an easier fight in your weight division.’ Boring. This is a guy who has done it all and we should respect him for trying to be great. Now he comes back, fights Triple G, he wants to go straight back into the Bivol rematch. If he beats Bivol in the rematch, what do we say then? Greatest fighter of all time, one of.”
So, is Hearn right, is Canelo, if he can beat GGG and then avenge the loss to Bivol, one of the all time greats? Maybe you think Canelo has already done enough to deserve the distinction? But Hearn is totally correct when he says we should respect Canelo for taking on risky fights in order to be great. Let’s face it, Canelo could have played it safe and stayed at 168 pounds, where, who knows, he may never have lost.
Now to the big question, or questions – can Canelo beat Golovkin, and can he then defeat Bivol? We are presumably all in agreement as to which task is the toughest for Canelo. Then again, GGG has always given Canelo nothing but hell and who knows, coming off that loss to Bivol, Canelo might not be the same mentally strong fighter he was in 2017 and 2018 when he drew with and then closely decisioned GGG.
The Bivol rematch will be a tougher than tough fight for Canelo, especially if it’s at 175 again (Bivol has said he would perhaps be open to taking the return down at 168). What happens if Canelo loses to Bivol again? We don’t know, yet we can appreciate the fact that Canelo, 57-2-2(39) wants to try and get his revenge. How many fighters have we seen in the past who, when they lose to a guy, wanted absolutely nothing more to do with him? This is clearly not the way Canelo operates. Whether you like Canelo or not, you have to respect him.