Dmitry Bivol: I can beat Canelo

WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol has commented on a potential fight with WBO light heavyweight champion Canelo Alvarez, who also holds the WBA super middleweight and middleweight belts, and is WBC franchise champion.

“[In the] last days I have to answer the question ‘Would I fight Canelo?’ Of course, he has a title in my weight, he just won a big fight, he is one of the biggest names in boxing. I respect him. I hope he will stay at 175 or we can fight in 168. Do I believe I can win? Yes I do!”

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  • Bivol is young, active, legit LH, and not battered up like cherry-picked Kovalev. I would watch the matchup with Canelo!

  • Yes, Bivol you definitely can. But can you beat the judges? And will Canelo ever fight you or Beterbiev? Canelo is already looking for the next weak link, wherever he can find it….

    • I Agree, and Bivol has won by decision in his last 4 fights,so Bivol might beat him in most peoples eyes EXCEPT at least 2 and maybe all 3 of the ones who count.

    • This is the key. He can win but the judges would be another matter. He can outwork Canelo but stopping him is another matter (but it would be great to see)

  • Canelo will never fight Dmitry. Canelo is known to hand pick safe opponents and over the hill opponents.
    Plus judges are on Canelo’s side also.
    #Canelogreatpretender

    • Who are the guys Canelo has ducked in his career? Just wondering I hear this a lot but maybe I’m missing all the tough high profile in their prime fighters he dodged.

      • I hear that a lot too. But as a long time Canelo fan he really hasn’t ducked anyone that I can recall. He has fought nothing but the best all the way down to Mayweather and Golovkin. The only people or fans of boxing that say that are haters. I’m now hearing he hand picks safe opponents lol, but I didn’t recall people complaining about that when Mayweather cherry picked his way to 50 by waiting out the competition. But I guess you have to be the minority to be loved. In all honesty after his loss to Mayweather the man racked up a damn good resume. He even jumped up two weight divisions to fight a dangerous yes older fighter in Kovalev just to find good competition, because there technically isn’t anyone in the Middleweights I believe that can truly beat him. I hope Canelo doesn’t stay in the light heavyweights or move even further up he doesn’t have to prove himself doing that, because it’s not his natural weight class. I don’t think he will succeed long there. If he is smart he will stay at 168 or 160 and clean up the division.

        • Mayweather was always criticized for cherry picking his opponents. He fought Mosley, Oscar past their prime. He fought Marquez and Hatton at WW, which was not best weight for either fighter. He fought Canelo when Canelo was nowhere near fighter he is now. Canelo learned business side of boxing and is doing same thing Floyd did.

        • The fact that he waited until Golovkin got older says it all. The only one he actually dared to be great was with mayweather. Other than that, safety first. He beat and old Mosley, baldomir, a mentally melted down cintron… come on, his first world title was against a mediocre fighter who carried the name hatton. But then again, at 160, he would be wasting his tome against the Charlos or Andrade. Saunder is the only one for him.

      • Manny, all of the major middleweight fighters when he fought in middleweight.
        He makes up his own weight classes to suit.
        He’s a fraud

        • Wrong. Manny doesn’t fight above 147 also around the best time that would’ve been possible Manny had unfinished business with Marquez and got knocked out and the Mayweather fight was all team Paq wanted while Canelo was moving up. Would’ve been called cherry picked. At Middleweight he really just started by facing the top 2, GGG and Jacobs. The new guys Charlo and Boo Boo have done very little to market themselves until recently Boo Boo did. Waiting to hear who else he dodged.

          • I can tell who he’s ducking now – Beterbiev. Possibly Bivol. He’ll move onto some washed up cruiserweight next. Someone with a name but with diminished skills. His team will require some difficult to meet and disadvatageous conditions (like fighting in a few weeks, weight cut restrictions etc). This whole situation is ridiculous.

        • He definitely doesn’t want to fight that young Russian Urginvitch Yousonavitch.

      • Canelo has NEVER fought a fighter who meets the following conditions- someone who is the best of the division (like in this case), in his prime (like in this case) and was at his natural weight (like in this case where Kovalev had a weight limit clause).

        • no one. The only fighter at their peak he’s fought that I know of is Mayweather, and he lost the fight. Everyone else is after they’ve lost badly before, so his management (DLH) knew they’re vulnerable and up for the taking.

      • Hes dodging callum smith at 168 he fought rocky fielding ? Weakest champ at 168 . Kovalev an over the hill fighter weakest champ at 175
        . Hes dodging

      • It’s not about the “who” but “when”. Caleno’s last fight was against washed up Kovalev who was ko’d by Ward and before Alvarez (a different one)…. Canelo can’t even claim he’s the first Alvarez who finished Kovalev. And he fought Kov few weeks after Sergei had a hard fight with Yarde. So Kovalev not had enough time to properly prepare and shed the weight. It’s all planned and executed by my DeLaHoya. They don’t touch young, unbeaten figthers unless it’s for a boat load of money. The only one I remember is Mayweather and we all know what happened there. If Canelo wants to call himself the best heawyweight Beterbiev is the way to go. Fight him on the neutral ground (China? Iceland?)

      • Okay, so far at 160 he has dodged Andrade and he doesn’t have definitive victories without controversy. That is enough to not have him in the top three pound for pound like his delusional fans have him. He won’t fight Beterbiev, Bivol, Smith or Benavidez, and may not even fight Golovkin in a third fight outside of Vegas. When you look at the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world Vasyl lomachenko, he has been fighting these dangerous types of fights at higher weights. Canelo is a good fighter but not a great one, because he has not done anything great.

    • dont be so negative he is the current superstar of boxing and a great fighter , he has proved that

    • Canelo has NEVER fought a fighter who meets the following conditions- someone who is the best of the division (like in this case), in his prime (like in this case) and was at his natural weight (like in this case where Kovalev had a weight limit clause).

      • Like GGG, or an undefeated Trout, or a highly avoided Lara. The GGG in his prime thing is a bogus cop out. He was an older champ to start and yes Canelo wanted to test the waters to make sure he was able to fight at the weight and bring a strap to the table.

  • Protected canelo wont fight this guy. It truly sickens me the way these fighters are protected and steer clear of the true challenges, and always have the judges in their promoters pockets. Judge Dave Maready should be hanged for his score card in kovalev fight.

  • Sorry Dmitry but Canelo already has his sights set on Beibut Shumenov for the WBA “regular” cruiserweight title.

    • I don’t think that Shumenov is a very good fight for him at cruiser weight. Canelo looked max out in terms of weight at 175 and only came into the ring around 180. I can’t imagine him putting on another 10 to 20 lbs and be effective. Not to mention Shumenov looks pretty solid at 200 lbs even though he came up from 175. Also he is 36 now and pretty inactive.

  • Be an interesting matchup at 168. Bivol is almost a perfect boxer but if he had to move down it might sap him. Canelo has so many options right now it’s crazy just to even mention this many possible opponents. Can’t wait to see what he decides.

  • Sorry Dmitry, you’re too young, unbeaten and haven’t shown any glaring weaknesses, you don’t fit the criteria to be a Canelo opponent.

  • This is the way of the game in modern time. Haters or ignorants can’t comprehend this. Once a fighter is right at the top, he and his team, along with his promoter evaluate the best and less risky options. Is the essential part of the business in order to keep their value and marketability. Mayweather signed a big contract with Showtime. First and last pick, a easy ones. Then people, especially haters, were asking why not Golovkin? So, he fought two credible opponents to silence some critics, but winnable fights not a immensely risky. We are not longer in the era where two megastars just to collide one against the other, sometime the loser ending his boxing career. Those were great times for boxing fans when we had Ali vs Frazier or Foreman, Leonard vs Hearn (both in their primes and undefeated) Sanchez vs. Gomez, Arguello vs. Pryor and so on but not really for the boxers. No, that is long gone and seldom some great match up will happen. Boxing is turning in behalf of the boxer in he real meaning that should have been long time ago: Boxing as a hard profession should allow the ones that entertain us leave the sport with plenty of good health and money to enjoy their retirement. And that trend has been traced by Marweather, Andre Ward, Oscar DeLa Hoya and Saul Alvarez too.
    The examples of the wrong side are there spending their time in misery and living a zombie life.
    Norris, Taylor, Hearn, Barkley and many others alive or gone.
    I don’t think we like to have them ending like that anymore

    • I disagree with you on this one because eastern European fighters don’t give a shit about their “0” and just want to prove like real top athletes that they are the best in their division or sport. Look at the names you are talking about : only US or Mexican fighters !! I’m not surprised… Eastern Euro fighters are going to take boxing over because of this kind of behaviour.. I was saying that 10 years ago..

      • Can you mention one of them that has or had been a real PPV star? Not at the Mayweather or De La Hoya level, just close to that. Please don’t come with Lomachenko, at least you want me to laugh.

      • Regis Europe and anywhere else has been the poster child of not making big fights due to rival promotions. It’s more the promoters than the fighters. Canelo is not afraid of anyone.

      • Then you must not know who GGG is. He dodged Ward to keep his undefeated record. Or did he actually grow a pair and fight Ward afterall? Nope. He was content to fight and call out the smaller mayweather even after mayweather said he wld fight him but only after he fought Ward. That is ducking at its finest.

      • There will never be a eastern European superstar boxer. They tried very hard and it aint gonna happen.

    • Interesting plaidoyer for a corrupt industry. Unfortunately, its very one-sided and doesn’t offer a solution how to rid boxing of corruption and manipulation. Repeat PED offenders like Canelo are stealing money from hundreds of legit and honest fighters. How? By manipulating their way through the ranks until they can do whatever they want because they get paid the most.

      The real question is not whether the boxing past was better or worse than the present. The real question is how to make boxing fair and honest. Its currently unfair because a vast share of the profits is taken up by very few fighters – not because they are the best but because the are being made the most marketable. And its a dishonest process because of the many scandalous scores by corrupt or inept judges. You defend frauds like Canelo or Mayweather but just think about it: Canelo lost at least 3 fights so far but he got the W (+ he has one legitimate loss against Mayweather who held his current position in the past). If these W’s would have gone to fighters like Lara or GGG, the boxing world and distribution of profits would look very different.

      What would be an interesting comment in here, would be how to make the boxing world fair so that all boxers with championship potential get a fair share of the profits, not just the very few chosen ones by the industry. Even good B class fighters should get more than they currently get. But their fights disappear in from the mainstream radar because the mainstream world has been trained to pay for the few exclusive chosen ones. Its actually incredible how you defend a multiple PED offender like Canelo while you don’t mind that an honest fighter like GGG was robbed millions of $$ and a place in history because he is on the wrong side of the game. For you, he is just another mediocre loser, even though its clear that he won the first fight against Canelo by a wide margin.

      Boxing is known as the most corrupt sport in the world, but yet, gullible “fans” are still defending the most corrupt people in the game. As long as we have a corrupt industry and gullible spectators of rigged fights, there can’t be justice, fairness or honest fights.

      So, thanks once more for your one-sided and blind comment, Mike.

      • As a loyal GGG’s fan, Stone, you exude your bitterness about him not getting the not against Canelo. Greatnes are reached not only by having talent in boxing, a good dosage of heart is need it too, and GGG heart is a bit smaller than the one a chicken has. He came to America harping that he was willing to face anyone from 154 to 168. He had the nerve to be calling an undersize and fading Miguel Cotto, a small welterweight Floyd Mayweather and a very green Saul Alvarez, but when Andre Ward called him, he was one the best costumers buying IMODIUM, never answer that request. Then when the second fight with Canelo fell through, Demetrius Andrade said he was ready to replace Canelo. Again IMODIUM time, and instead they brought out of the cemetery an ultra shot Vanes Martirosyan.
        Beating guys like Steve Rolls, Gabriel Rosado, Nobuhiro Ishida, Marco Antonio Rubio, Martirosyan and calling small guys, semiretired guys, but refusing to risk in search of greatness by going up in weight or facing guys like Saunders or Andrade, is not the right way to get to the top as a PPV star. Golovkin should be thankfully in high degree that Canelo decided to fight him and by that way he got two good pay days, otherwise he could still having the same amount of money he got by fighting Rosado. The deal with DAZN is thank to the exposure he got with the two Canelo fights, but not that he earned it through great and risky fights.

        • Well put MikeMiguel. GGG fans seem to forget about Ward. I mean, they have good reason to forget. GGG didnt have the stones to face someone a lil bit bigger than him. He was only willing to call out those smaller than him.

    • You make a great point. ..but as an ex-boxer and an ex-tennis pro I longed to compete against the best win or lose! This instinct is in the mind of a true athlete or professional. You what you do and you want to see how far your talent and/or skills take you.

      Now that I’m older, I long to see highly talented or skilled athletes go at it. Would fans pay to watch the Cowboys, Astros, or Spurs win it all using fraud? True sport lovers hate fraudulent encounters. And true professionals do it for the love of the game and not the money.

    • It shouldn’t be that way. If he wants to be the best he has to beat the beat and take on all challengers who are a threat to that. Otherwise he is no longer the best.

    • Why do you assume it’s about not “comprehending” what the modern boxing game is all about? I do, perfectly so. I just don’t agree with the way they operate. We’re devoided of the privilege of knowing who’s better in their primes and instead have to witness a compromised, aged boxer pitched against a young rising star. It’s all a fault of the un-critical boxing fans who are buying this crap. You’d have to be mad to think Kovalev was the best lhw has to offer nowadays. You have unbeaten knockout artist (Beterbiev) and superb technician (Bivol) at the top of the heap, yet Canelo choses a guy who got ko’d twice in his last 5 or 6 fights. All I have to say to mr. Canelo: unify the belts. Fight Beterbiev. There is a lot of intrigue here. Kovalev? It’s a good start, but what now? Are you going to defend? Unify? Yes?

    • Even if Bivol would fight Canelo in Las Vegas and get cheated like others before him, the masses would still continue to throw their money at Canelo just because they are told that he is the best. So who is worse? Lame sanctioning bodies? PED using fighters? Manipulative promoters? Corrupt judges? Or gullible fans?

      Bivol would smoke Canelo like a cigar, no matter where and when they would fight. Beterbiev would obliterate Canelo within 6 rounds. Even Gvozdyk would beat Canelo by KO. But these fights will either never happen, or only if these fighters can be paid off like Kovalev (“$12 million, thank you very much – I can finally retire as a fairly rich man. Ok, I had to take one serious punch in that fight, but at least I didn’t have to break a sweat and throw even a single hard punch myself”).

      • Yep, that is exactly the way I saw it. He got paid to make the fight seem legit and the judges got paid to be blind!!!

  • If Bivol has any chance to beat Canelo, Oscar de la Hoya won’t be allowing him to fight his cash cow.

    With that being said, Canelo won’t be fighting Artur Beterbiev ever.

  • I dont think alvarez is afraid of anyone he really is a great inside fighter and can knock anyone out he may get to bivol and others around this weight and he would probably win although lh is the wrong weight class he is too short, kovalev was way too conservative in that fight anyone not afaid to throw there lead hand could finish canelo but it remains to be seen way too much negatively about canelo he is fun to watch and a great fighter just accept it

  • Bivol doesn’t seem to have power to hurt anyone, but he looks really fluid in the ring. I think his reach and style will give Canelo all he could handle and more. Though Canelo is riding high and feeling super confident, I don’t think we will see Canelo vs Bivol any time soon. Probably never.

    • Never, Canelo has NEVER fought a fighter who meets the following conditions- someone who is the best of the division (like in this case), in his prime (like in this case) and was at his natural weight (like in this case where Kovalev had a weight limit clause).

      • Raul..Im a little confused at what ur saying. What actually makes them the best in their division? Very few are unified these days otherwise charlo would fight Andrade. So lets see, Hes fought Trout that had a belt. He fought GGG twice that had a belt, danny Jacobs, Lara, Mayweather, and Smith in smiths weight class that he had been in for quite some time and still in. And KOV didnt have a weight limit clause. They both weighed at LHW weight limit. Now they had a rehydration clause but wasnt a big deal cuz Kov never rehydrates that much n e way. If Kov didnt complain, why should n e one else?

      • He fought the best Erislandy Lara version, (controversial win is true) but Lara was at his natural weight and on his primes. The crafty Austin Trout was undefeated in his primes and was the best guy at 154.

        • Caneo’s win over Lara was not “controversial”. Lara clearly won the fight against but was robbed. The same happened when Canelo fought GGG: GGG got robbed….twice.

          Canelo is a mediocre fighter; most of his power comes from PEDS and an increasing # of his wins are because of outrageous scoring by bad judges.

  • Those who complain about the judging. Theres a fix for that if you really are dumb enough to think their paid off.. either dont fight him or KO him. 1 of the 2. Easy fix.. if u cant KO him then dont fight him.. see, that was easy…these guys are jus after a paycheck with him.

  • I could agree on the part that Kovalev was chosen because he was showing deterioration in his physical abilities, in other words, he is definitively in the “Twilight” of his career. However, Canelo’s two fights against Golovkin were real, brutal, and grittier than any other fight he has fought and, even though he lost the 1st one, the second one, in my own personal opinion, was even closer; I would have settled for a draw. Canelo is a high-quality boxer, but you are right, if he wants to prove his greatness, the Mexican should challenge either Bivol or Beterbiev. Check

  • Personally, i dont think Canelo belongs with the LHW’s. I think hes gonna get hurt eventually. He lucked out with Kov. I had Kov winning til he got caught. I seriously think he shld drop back down and wipe the floor with the two main crybabies in Charlo and Andrade (sunce their sooo avoided but will never fight each other)and then up to super middle and stay there and face the callum smiths of that division.

  • It seems the fans want either Bivol or Beterbiev as his next fight. And WTF not? They are the ones paying for all this PPV BS! Bivol I think would be a 50/50 fight. Beterbiev maybe the same or slightly more. Its what he fans want. It should be about what he fans want. If your not getting what you deserve and that is top competition fighting top competition than cancel your subscription. Refuge to spend your hard earned dollars on this Delahoya farce B.S. and end the coke binging. They would all sing a different tune. The problem is the casual fans are basically idiots willing to line everyones pocket.

  • I believe that either Bivol or Beterbiev can beat Canelo. Krusher got crushed. He was emaciated. He had the power of a Jr. Bantamweight.

  • If Alvarez decides to stay as light heavyweight he will choose the weakest of the champions, not an easy choice, he is not big enough for this division.

  • Remember former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Dwight Qawi? He was smaller than Canelo. Also, like another poster mentioned, Canelo can for sure beat Shumenov if he wants to cherry pick a cruiserweight champ for titles in 5 divisions.

  • Canelo fought and beat Trout, when all you fuckers said he wouldn’t fight him… Canelo fought and beat Lara, when all you fuckers said he wouldn’t fight him… Canelo twice fought GGG, drew then beat him, when all you fuckers said he wouldn’t fight him. Next….

  • Ive never been a big fan of Canelo’s, but he is taking risks and winning. Anybody moving up in weight risks getting hit harder than the past. A few years ago nobody would of thought Canelo would win the LHW title and now you could picture him winning a CW title provided there is a smaller (Compared to other CW’s) champion to match him with or somebody on the down turn of their career. Canelo looks solid at the higher weight. Dont be surprised if they talk of him facing a CW champion picks up and then depending on the weaker HW belt holder being talked about. We still have Mahmoud Charr
    listed as a HW champion so there is always a weak link to be exposed. Like when RJJ found a HW champion he could be I expect Canelo to talk about it in the next two years.

  • If Canelo is going to fight him he should do it at 168 and not 175. Light heavyweight is not a good weight for him. He looked sluggish at that weight compared to how he looks at 160.

  • So many people on here love to bash Canelo, saying he’s cherry picking, dodging, and scared of competition. That is utter BS! Name another fight out there with the drawing power and ability to jump around multiple weight classes and do what he has done? And not only do it but do it convincingly. Nobody, that’s why he is the biggest draw in boxing, love him or hate him, he is the man.

  • Canelo has always fought the best. There will always be haters and envious people who dont give him credit. I started watching his fights about 10 yrs ago and i told everybody that this guy had potential to be a superstar. I also told everyone that Trump would be elected and there are still haters who want to remove him from office. Go Trump, go Canelo

  • Canelo is not going to fight him any time soon, if at all. Canelo is trapped in a nice corner of his own doing. He talked all that shit about making history and only challenging fighters. Well now that you made history beating the big name, the only other big name left is GGG. According to Canelo, GGG is not a challenge any more. That means he has to fight either Bivol, Beterbeiv, Saunders, or Smith. I bet he fights GGG and makes big cash against a big name that is a softer touch.

    • It’s comments like this that get me wondering why you even care about canelo and why bother commenting? He’s a 4 div champ, he beat a champ to get those belts. The people he beat got the belts some way, they were champions, why is that not good enough? Bivol is not a draw, he hasn’t done anything significant to be in same ring as canelo. Maybe one day but not today. So keep hating, keep putting down his accomplishments, at the end of the day he has done what not many in the sport can say they did. What have you done?

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