Preview: Canelo vs Bivol
By Owen McKendry
After defending his super-middleweight titles, Canelo Alvarez looks to defy the odds and cement his legacy in boxing even further by taking on Dmitry Bivol.
Picture Credit: DAZN
Standing just over 5 foot 7, Canelo takes the jump up to light heavyweight to take on current WBA (Super) champ Bivol. The Mexican superstar has regularly given height and reach away when stepping up divisions, however, the task ahead of him feels like a David and Goliath situation. Standing nearly 5 inches taller Bivol will be considerably bigger than his opponent, but this will not phase Canelo in the slightest.
Canelo is fast becoming a legend of the fight game, having an anytime, anyplace anywhere attitude that sees him regularly fight the best and give fans action-packed fights. Although he won't be defending any of his belts, Alvarez deserves the chance to step up and challenge after dismantling Caleb plant in brilliant fashion.
Picture Credit: BBC
Kudos must be given to Bivol, taking on an extremely risky fight, potentially losing his 0 against the much smaller man. The Russian heads into the fight with an impressive 19-0 record against some good names in the light-heavyweight division and he will be eagerly anticipating the chance to take on arguably the pound for pound best in the world.
Firstly looking at the current undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez, his resume speaks for itself. He is simply the biggest superstar in boxing today and will go down as one of the greatest to ever lace a pair of gloves up. Quite simply he can do it all, whether that be box and move, dictate the pace or go to war in the centre of the ring.
The 31-year-old has had an astonishing 60 professional fights so far and went professional at the tender age of 15! The rest is history and includes title after title in 4 divisions and he will attempt to do what few have before moving through from welterweight to light heavyweight. He has cleaned out every division he has fought in so far and the next task will be his most difficult to date.
Despite being the smaller man facing a tough task Canelo is the clear favourite to take out the Russian at an astounding 1/5 with a number of bookies.
Bivol will likely feel hard done by with Canelo taking the majority of the coverage throughout the build-up. The undefeated Russian is lacking a huge name on his resume to propel him up the pound for pound rankings and secure a unification fight with his compatriot Artur Beterbiev, and Canelo is exactly that.
Bivol has won his last six fights via unanimous decision with the majority of them being comfortable victories. A slick fighter who does possess power with 11 ko victories, Bivol will be looking to use his size advantage throughout.
Picture Credit: Sky Sports
The Russian will be hoping the jump up in weight is a step too far for Canelo and he can shock the world. Although there is pressure on both fighters for different reasons, Bivol will likely see the fight as a perfect situation for his stock to rise and become more of a household name in the sport.
The blockbuster face-off has been highly anticipated since rumours broke Canelo was making the incredible jump up to Light-heavyweight to try and add a 5th division to his cv of titles. With Vegas being the most iconic city for boxing, there is no place better to hold the fight than the T-Mobile Arena.
Saturday night promises to bring fireworks and with this fight headlining the bill, fight fans will certainly be entertained. Despite the ring walk being expected around 4am UK time, fight fans will have no issues waking up in the early hours to see the fight.
Fighters form:
Canelo Alvarez
Caleb Plant - WIN – TKO round 11
Billy Joe Saunders – WIN – RTD round 8
Avni Yildrim – WIN – RTD round 3
Callum Smith – UD (119-109, 119-109, 117-111)
Dimitry Bivol
Umar Salamov – WIN – UD (119-109, 118-109, 118-110)
Craig Richards – WIN – UD (115-114, 115-113, 118-110)
Lenin Castillo – WIN – UD (120-107, 119-108, 119-108)
Joe Smith Jnr – WIN – UD (119-109, 119-109, 118-110)
Event Information:
Date: April 16th 2022
Time: Approx. 04.00 Ring Walk (GMT)
Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Promoter: Matchroom (DAZN)