Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s relentless quest to conquer as many divisions as possible will continue this evening, as the Mexican challenges Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light-heavyweight title. Canelo (57-1-2, 39 knockouts) has held multiple belts across four weight classes, and tonight he returns to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and to the division in which he took WBO gold from Sergey Kovalev in 2019. Standing between Alvarez and another title, however, is the unbeaten Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs).
Yet Canelo, although seen by most fans and pundits as boxing’s pound-for-pound No 1 fighter, cannot afford to overlook Bivol. The Russian is yet to taste defeat, and what the 31-year-old lacks in power (he is without a finish in four years) he makes up for in aggression and tenacity. Follow live updates from Canelo vs Bivol and the undercard, below.
Canelo is set to face Gennady Golovkin in a trilogy fight in September, so long as he is successful tonight.
Golovkin made his much-anticipated return to the ring last month when stopped Ryota Murata in Japan, however, there were early signs that the 40-year-old’s age was catching up to him.
Both of their two previous fights were thrilling contests, with a controversial draw that many thought Golovkin had won followed by another close bout that the judges ruled in Canelo’s favour.
This time, Eddie Hearn believes the fighters won’t hear the final bell.
“I think it’s a different fight this time,” he said. “I don’t think it goes eight or nine rounds. I think both guys – I think Triple-G will say, ‘This is probably my last fight, if I lose. And I’m gonna go out there and’ … And by the way, I think he will be so much better at 168 than 160. How long has he been at 160, fighting [at] championship weight? Fourteen years at 160. I mean, he will be so much better and so much stronger at 168. He will be very aggressive in that fight. He’s a slow starter, and when he was out for 440 days or whatever he was, he started really slow in Japan [against Ryota Murata].
“He also went to the champion’s backyard, having not boxed for 440 days, had a bad opening few rounds, and then went through the gears and beat him up. I actually didn’t mind the performance. He will be very aggressive against Canelo because he ain’t gonna try and fiddle around for 12 rounds. And Saul will wanna take his head off. I promise you that fight won’t go the distance because Saul, not speaking out of turn, will wanna hurt him.”
Canelo has enjoyed a spectacular last 18 months in the ring that have cemented him as boxing’s pound-for-pound superstar. Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant were all unbeaten champions at 168lbs but were comprehensively defeated by the Mexican as he became undisputed champion at super-middleweight.
Marc Castro wins a shutout decision. It’s another useful learning fight for the American, however, there are certainly vulnerabilities in his defence that will need to be corrected before he attempts a considerable step up in level.
The undercard is getting underway now in Las Vegas, and it’s a simple night for Zhang Zhilei.
The Chinese heavyweight was supposed to face Filip Hrgovic in an IBF title eliminator, however, the Croatian withdrew last week after his father passed away.
Scott Alexander was hastily brought in as a replacement at short notice and the fight lasted just one round.
Zhang and Hrgovic’s bout will now be rearranged for later this year.
Canelo is stepping up a weight division again tonight against Bivol, but Eddie Hearn believes the Mexican could attempt to move all the way up to heavyweight in the future.
Speaking to JOE, he said: “When we talk about mindset and winning, he genuinely believes he can beat Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight title.
“He said to me ‘if you can make that fight at one pound above cruiserweight – which obviously Usyk was a cruiserweight – I will beat him’.
“I find it hard not to believe him. Sometimes, the only way someone like Canelo Alvarez or Vasyl Lomachenko gets beat is when they keep moving up in weight outside of where they should be.
“That’s maybe how Canelo Alvarez gets beat, (when) it’s a challenge too far.”
In the 47 minutes that follow, should the fight go to the judges’ scorecards, any distance between the respective boxing abilities of the combatants will be revealed.
In those initial moments, though, when the pair touch gloves under the T-Mobile Arena lights, there will be very little separating them.
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage as Canelo Alvarez challenges Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light-heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
Alvarez became the undisputed super-middleweight champion when he stopped Caleb Plant last year and has now stepped up a weight division to face Bivol. The Russian champion is unbeaten as a professional and represents a tricky test, even if there are doubts over the power of his punches.
If Alvarez is successful tonight, he is set to meet Gennady Golovkin in a trilogy fight in September.
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