Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez v Dmitry Bivol - 7th May 2022

[Primo Carnera]

Big test for Canelo, no complaints here. Just hope we get to see it , with all that’s going on at the moment.

Forgot about that! Bivol and Beterbiev are both Russian.

I know you plank! But in case you hadn’t heard, Russian athletes have been banned from the paralympics. Who knows if this carries on , other sports might follow suit.

[palmerq]

Bivol is also a krygz citizen too so maybe they'd let him skip around any sanctions the organizers would level at the Russians... Or maybe Malibu at cruiserweight is back on the table :S

[Memphis]

There's probably an asterisk against anything upcoming to be fair. The participants nationality is the tip of the iceberg. Until they're in the ring and all that.

Good fight, quality fight. I know there will be Charlo/Andrade/Benavidez this and that, but I'm with Canelo on this. Fuck off and do your own thing and I'll beat up who's left when the smoke clears. Whats the saying about hoping or wishing it will happen? Go away and make it happen. It's all getting a bit desperate.

[TitoFan]

It's actually too bad the reality of the dastardly Russian invasion of Ukraine has totally overshadowed this fight. It's probably one of the precious few times in Canelo's career that I have openly conceded that this is a bonafide opponent, at the height of his powers, with no size advantage that I know of. But overshadow it has... and one has to wonder about Bivol's mindset and training coming into this fight. You have to admit... these are totally new and extenuating circumstances that are difficult to just "blow off."

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/214527/214527

"Dmitry Bivol: ‘I’m Ready For Everything From Canelo’ On May 7th"


The article above has one statement that I sort of disagree with... (which again will be of much dismay to those who view me as just a Canelo hater).

"If Bivol is reluctant to let his hands go, as we saw with the 168-lb champions Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith all were against Canelo, he’s going to get picked apart."


I actually thought BJS was giving as good as he got up until the time he was injured by that uppercut to the eye socket. To this day some in boxing scratch their heads at how much damage Canelo was able to inflict on a full-blown supermiddle with a single punch... when Canelo himself has come up from light welter. But that's another story for another time, I guess.

The point is that one punch immediately turned the whole fight into a stoppage.

But the rest?? You damn right they were reluctant to let their hands go. Callum Smith IMO turned in the 2nd worst possible performance against Canelo (after Kovalev) as the "bigger man." He fought like Bambi.

Rocky Fielding was garbage... precisely the reason he was targeted for the "trinket-grab."

Caleb Plant fought valiantly... but from outset he was no danger to Canelo... and the entire civilized world knew that. Hardly a suspenseful match.


But yeah. For once we have a credible, dangerous, equal-sized (at least), not-over-the-hill, not-cherry-picked, not-marinated opponent for Canelo..... and then his country up and invades Ukraine.

[Master]

You are right about Callum Smith, he was a real let down.

[Ron Swanson]

Well I clearly underrated Bivol. Badly

[palmerq]

Well I clearly underrated Bivol. Badly

#MeToo

[Spicoli]

118-110 Bivol and that is on a Christmas morning. No question. This was a clinic. worried about Canelo tbh, he was not in this one and we need to ask some hard questions on reality

[Syntax Error]

Just watched this again & I still can't believe that the judges nearly conspired to rob Bivol of his rightful victory, as the fight was not even close.

Canelo won 3 rounds, 4 at best & that's it.

[Master]

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has opened up for the first time about his shock loss against WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, hinting he ‘couldn’t train like usual’ for the fight.

The boxing superstar failed in his attempt to become a two-time champion at 175lbs with all three judges scoring the contest 115-113 after 12 rounds. Most observers had Bivol winning by a wider margin, however.

Canelo opted against pursuing an immediate rematch with the Russian and will instead partake in a trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin on September 17 in Las Vegas.

The Mexican boxer has suggested that there was an issue with his training camp heading into his fight with Bivol but insisted he will not use that as an excuse for his first defeat since 2013.

“I lost because I lost, not for golf or nothing. I was golfing three years ago, and I won the undisputed [super middleweight] championship, so that’s not the reason,” Canelo told Fight Hub.

"There’s another reason, but I don’t want to say anything and make any excuses. I lost and that’s it. I got tired and that’s it. I couldn’t train like usual, but it is what it is. I lost but I’m going to get my chance again.”

The 31-year-old revealed that when he does fight Bivol again, it will be at light-heavyweight, shutting down talk of a rematch taking place at his preferred weight of 168lbs.

“It’s not eating a vegan diet or nothing about that, it’s other things,” Cancelo said. It’s not that [overtraining], it’s other things. I don’t want to say anything. I don’t want excuses. I want to fight in his division,” Canelo said.

“It’s not that [overtraining], it’s other things. I don’t want to say anything. I don’t want excuses. I want to fight in his division.”

In the meantime, Bivol is likely to travel to the UK to take on undefeated British Olympian Joshua Buatsi, who picked up a 12-round decision win over his compatriot, Craig Richards in May.

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...olovkin-fight/

[Spicoli]

Why the mealy mouth mystery stuff from Canelo. "It was something else I don't want to say"

Funny he never mentioned what it actually 'was'..it was Bivol! Simple as. Saw the square off with Golovkin earlier and Canelo fuming and mean mugging. His tough guy stuff just feels like it's really wearing thin.

[Spicoli]

There's probably an asterisk against anything upcoming to be fair. The participants nationality is the tip of the iceberg. Until they're in the ring and all that.

Good fight, quality fight. I know there will be Charlo/Andrade/Benavidez this and that, but I'm with Canelo on this. Fuck off and do your own thing and I'll beat up who's left when the smoke clears. Whats the saying about hoping or wishing it will happen? Go away and make it happen. It's all getting a bit desperate.

Crazy days right now. Not allowing the strap to be defended might just halt this in its tracks but as goes boxing they may conjure some technicality to allow it. They may be onto something with no banners-flags or anthems though . All feels like some eerie old school cold war wrestling right now, slap a big hammer and sickle on Bivol robe and have Canelo come out in some stars n Bars unitard.

Pop had a saying for the bolded...'you can wish in one and shit in the other, see which fills up fastest'.

[Master]

Klitschko brothers call for Russian boxer to be banned from fighting Canelo Alvarez

The Klitschko brothers have called on boxing authorities to ban Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol from fighting against Canelo Alvarez following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

More than two million people have now fled the country and the UN has recorded over 1,335 civilian casualties since the war began, with a host of sanctions imposed on Russia as a result.

In the sporting world there has been a near universal response with F1 cancelling the Russian Grand Prix and Russian athletes prevented from competing at the Paralympic Winter Games.

But one high-profile Russian athlete – undefeated WBA light-heavyweight champion Bivol – is still due to face pound-for-pound superstar Canelo, and the Klitschkos do not believe the bout should go ahead.

Asked if Bivol should be allowed to fight Canelo, Wladimir Klitschko – who has remained in Kyiv to fight against Russia alongside his brother – told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Absolutely not.

‘Every sanction, and it’s nothing against the personality or athletes, it’s about the politics of Russia.

‘Every Russian representative in this case needs to be sanctioned, because this way we show to Russia that the world is against this senseless war and that there’s no good in this war.’

Vitali, who is the Mayor of Kyiv, added: ‘And the Russia population have to put pressure on the government, on Putin, from inside the country and show that it’s actually a senseless war.

‘People pay with their lives, already thousands from both sides have died. The question is: for what?

‘For what [purpose] is the war? For our idea of being part of the European Union? For our idea of being part of the European family?

‘The reason is because Putin does not want to see Ukraine as an independent country. He has a crazy idea to rebuild the Soviet empire. We were in the USSR and we don’t want to go back to the USSR.

‘We see our future as a democratic, modern country and that’s why we’re fighting for values, for principles, for our country.’

In further quotes carried by The Daily Mail, Wladimir actually called on the US government to intervene and prevent Bivol from travelling to Las Vegas.

The former heavyweight added: ‘It is important that this boxer is forbidden from fighting in America, just as all Russian athletes are being banned from international competition.’

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...cid=entnewsntp

[TitoFan]

Ban Bivol because of what Putin is doing?

Hey... mad respect for the Klitschko brothers. They're going above and beyond in their defense of their homeland. It's also understandable why they would have those sentiments. But from an objective perspective, what is gained by banning Bivol from fighting Canelo? Olympic teams? Sure. Other international team competitions? Absolutely. But Bivol is a professional boxer who just happens to be from Russia. I'm pretty sure he wasn't consulted about the decision to invade Ukraine.

Although TBH... if Bivol is going to be another "Timid Susan" in the ring with Canelo, and hand him a decision... yeah... ban him from fighting Canelo.

[J_Undisputed]

I'll take Canelo by KO. I'm not saying Bivol hasn't got the goods, he's a good light heavy but he's very wide with his punches and likes to fight at his own pace and can be caught going straight back sometimes. He might not have been ready for that shot at the bell by Joe Smith, but it shows he can be wobbled. He recovered well for the next round, but his legs were jelly and against a good finisher with time, I don't think he'll be given that chance. I think he's a bit more dynamic than Beterbiev and not quite as stiff. That being said, I still think he's going to get caught with a counter he doesn't see and his corner will throw in the towel before too much damage is done.

Barring a KO, Bivols not winning a decision... not against Canelo. There will always be at least one judge that sees it 121-96 in favor if Canelo. Add this cancel culture nonsense on top of that and no way a Russian fighter will get anything in his favor on a world stage. It was a tactic that the clique-y teenage whiners brought to social media before the pandemic and now its been inflated to a global scale since, and is being used in war and international conflict and competition... how embarrassing. "I don't like you so we're gonna tell everyone you're not a nice person and everyone is going to out of their way to act like they ignore you to show how they good they are by attacking you and your views.." "Its not enough for you not to do the thing I don't like, you have to attack the people doing what I don't like..." Imagine being an athlete who has trained your whole life for something and then being told you can't compete because people are in their feelings about what your country/ancestors/ people that are the same skin color/ gender/ religion, etc did and where from 2 seconds ago to thousands of years ago. Whatever happened to the good old days when if someone had a problem with you directly, they stepped to you and went out on their feet or on their ass? or even filed a lawsuit (where you both had something to lose if you were wrong) Large scale tattling and shit-talking has become a way for people to get other people fight their battles for them. Mike Tyson was right, the internet made people too comfortable talking crap about people without getting punched in the face for it.

Klitchsko should know better. If you want to fight for your country, that's great. but there are people on both side of that border in harms way. Neither of which has to do with Bivol being able to fight Canelo.