Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn prefers that Canelo Alvarez fight Gennadiy Golovkin next in a trilogy match on September 17th and then swing back to attempt to avenge his defeat against Dmitry Bivol in a rematch at a later date.
Hearn’s idea is that while WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) is waiting for Canelo to exercise his rematch clause, he faces one of these fighters:
- Joshua Buatsi
- Craig Richards
- Callum Smith
- Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez
With that said, it’s unclear how motivated Bivol would be to fight those non-champions, as they’re all terribly flawed and not popular fighters worldwide.
If Canelo chooses not to take the immediate rematch, Bivol says he wants to fight for the undisputed 175-lb championship against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr. of their June 18th unification clash.
Bivol would gain a lot more by defeating the Beterbiev-Smith Jr winner than he would fighting the British guys that Hearn wants him to.
“I would love to see the [Dmitry Bivol] rematch,” said Eddie Hearn to the DAZN Boxing Show on what he wants next for Canelo Alvarez on September 17th.
“I would go GGG and then Dmitry Bivol, and we’d give Dmitry Bivol a big fight in September or October,” Hearn continued. “Whether that’s the Joshua Buatsi vs. Chris Richards winner, Callum Smith, or Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, but the rematch is a mega-fight,” said Hearn.
If Bivol were to follow Hearn’s idea, he would be undercutting himself by taking lesser fights against opposition that wouldn’t attract interest from the U.S fans. Callum Smith looked like a sparring partner in his loss to Canelo in 2020, and American boxing fans aren’t going to want to see Bivol waste his time fighting him.
Craig Richards already lost to Bivol last year, and so it’s pointless for him to revisit that fight. Buatsi is a one-dimensional slugger with a low work rate. That would be another disappointing fight.
Hearn says Canelo won’t want to lose the chance to fight a rematch with Bivol. If he challenges the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Smith fight, there would be a lot more risk for him than for Canelo taking on the 40-year-old Golovkin.
Canelo’s fight with Golovkin would be a business-level fight in which the Mexican star would make a lot of money in a match that he will surely win. There’s no belts for Canelo to capture fighting Golovkin, considering that he’s coming up in weight.
“Canelo’s not going to want to lose the opportunity,” said Hearn when asked about the possibility of Bivol fighting the winner of the June 18th unification fight between IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and WBO champion Joe Smith Jr.
“For Canelo, now it’s not about becoming undisputed at 175; it’s about beating Dmitry Bivol, belt or no belt.
“He probably doesn’t want to see Beterbiev against Bivol because he doesn’t want to lose the chance to rematch Bivol,” said Hearn.
