Canelo Alvarez‘s next fight tale is finally over.The Mexican superstarhasaccepted one of the offers he received. The winner is Eddie Hearn,Matchroom Boxing, and DAZN‘s. So, the next fights of Alvarez will be against Russian Dmitry Bivol on May 7, in a title fight for the WBA Light heavyweight belt, and then against Gennady Golovkin on September 17.
The deal guarantees Canelo a massive earning of $100 million for the celebration of both fights. It is fair to agree that the bout againstGGG, on what would be their trilogy after clashing in 2017 and 2018, would happen only if Alvarez defeats Bivol and Golovkin does the same thing against Japanese WBA Middleweight Champion Ryota Murata. The latter still does not have a confirmed date.
After Canelo’s official annoucement, the loser ones of the battle to get his preference are Al Haymon and PBC, who have offered the Guadalajara native also a two-fight deal that included clashes with WBC Middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo and168-pound former two-time Champion and now contender David Benavidez.
Who is Dmitry Bivol, Canelo Alvarez’s rival for his next fight?
The name of Gennady Gennadievich Golovkin is well known for boxing fans. However, the one of Dmitry Bivol may not say too much, unfortunately. Nevertheless, the Russian fighter could be one of Canelo Alvarez’s hardest challenges of his career.
At 31 years old, Dmitry Yurievich Bivol is the current WBA World Light heavyweight Champion. This means that the biggest reward for Alvarez in case of defeating him is becoming a two-time 175 pounds titlist, as the bout is likely been agreed in the mentioned weight class.
Bivol boasts his status of undefeated after 19 professional bouts held so far, all won, 11 of them by the quick way. With his 6’0 he is taller than Canelo, a handicap Alvarez is used to dealing with as all of his rivals since he defeatedGGGin 2018 are much bigger than him.
The Russian fighter, been born inKyrgyzstan, is one of the current most solid World titleholders: he has had his belt tightened to his waist for almost 5 years, and has defended it on 7 occasions,being Jean Pascal and Joe Smith Jr his most recognized rivals.
Dmitry Bivol’s jab, one of his predilect weapons. (Donat Sorokin\TASS via Getty Images)
Dmitry Bivol’s style, a hard challenge for Canelo
Bivol possesses the boxing style that has given Canelo Alvarez the most trouble during his 17 years as a professional boxer. Floyd Mayweather Jr, Erislandy Lara, and Caleb Plant were hard fights for the Undisputed Super middleweight Champion, given their condition of slicky fighters, with quick-skilled hands, superb feet work, and an accurate jab to control the distance. Just as Bivol.
In fact, against these types of opponents, Canelo has not been able to finish the fight before the eleventh round. Being this, in addition to the weight, Dmitry Bivol’s greatest advantage while he triesto stop one of the most dominant fighters of the last 5 years, and current Pound for Pound king.
