Bivol: ‘I’m glad I proved myself’

Undisputed 168-pound world champion Canelo Alvarez dared to be great, and over the past three years, he went to 175 and won and went through the 168-pound division and became an undisputed champion.

Alvarez continued to take risks as he battled undefeated WBA 175-pound champion Dmitry Bivol Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Bivol proved to be too much for Alvarez as he dominated the fight from start to finish to defeat Alvarez by unanimous decision.

Bivol(20-0, 11 KOs) won on all three scorecards, 115-113, to get the victory.  

This was Alvarez’s(57-2-2, 39 KOs) first loss since 2013, when he dropped a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather.

The fight was not as close as the cards indicated. Bivol had a great mix of jabs and combinations that frustrated the Mexican superstar. 

Alvarez had no answers for what Bivol brought to the table, and it showed. According to CompuBox, Bivol outlanded Alvarez in every round. Overall, Bivol threw more punches and outlanded Alvarez(152/710 to 84/485).

“I’m glad I proved myself today, I’m the best in my division, and I keep this belt,” Bivol said.

After the fight, Alvarez, who has a rematch clause for this fight, said he would exercise the rematch clause and would look to run it back.

“It doesn’t end like this,”  Alvarez said.

It appears that 175 is too big for the 31-year-old Alvarez, and Bivol would seem to be a difficult proposition for Canelo in the rematch. This was not a close fight.

If I were Canelo, I would continue with my plans to fight Gennadiy Golovkin next and stay at 168. However, Canelo is a competitor, so I see him fighting Bivol in the rematch, and based on how close the scorecards were in this fight(which is crazy), he would have to be just a little better to defeat Bivol in the rematch.