BOXING
Canelo says his main goal is to fight Bivol this year
The Mexican star clearly outpointed John Ryder in an intense battle in front of more than 45,000 fans in Guadalajara. His next challenge, the rematch against Bivol.
He was expected to handle John Ryder and get away with the win and he did so, but he had to dig deeper than expected to get his hand raised.
Saúl Álvarez won his 59th professional bout after clearly outmuscling the Brit at Estadio Akron, Guadalajara, on Saturday night.
Canelo successfully defended his four super middleweight belts by a twelve-round unanimous decision (120-107, 118-109, and 118-109) in a fight where he would have hung up the gloves if he had lost, according to his words ahead of the clash.
The Mexican great didn’t get the knockout win he was waiting for, although he sent Ryder to the canvas during the fight and he dominated his opponent for most of the night.
Canelo’s priority: Bivol at 175 lbs
As he announced before the fight with Ryder, Canelo’s goal is to get the rematch against Dmitry Bivol as soon as possible, preferably this year.
“Everybody knows we want the rematch with Bivol”, Álvarez during the post-fight press conference when asked about the future.
“Same rules, same terms, same everything. I just want it that way”, he added.
Both fighters have expressed their will to fight each other next, but the main problem that may end up slowing down the negotiations or even preventing the fight from taking place is the weight class.
While Álvarez wants to prove he can defeat the man who outpointed him a year ago in the same category (175 lbs) and get his WBA light heavyweight belt, the undefeated Russian wants to go down to 168 and fight at Canelo’s natural division and have the chance of taking all of his four belts.
It’s more likely that Canelo will have to accept Bivol’s demands, as the Russian has already defeated him and doesn’t feel the need of fighting the Guadalajara native again.
If that’s the case, it would be an even riskier fight for Eddy Reynoso’s pupil, as he would feel the pressure of having to prove he can defeat Bivol in a second bout, in his natural weight and, in case of losing, he would lose all four belts and his superstar status could be badly damaged.