Defeated By Dmitrii Bivol, Middle Saul Canelo Alvarez Fails To Add WBA World Title

Dmitry Bivol (REUTERS via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Saul Canelo Alvarez failed to add to his collection of titles after being defeated by belt holder Dmitrii Bivol in the fight for the WBA (Super) light heavyweight world title at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Sunday.

The WBA, WBO, WBC and WBO World Super Middle champion had a poor comeback in light heavyweight after moving up to cruiserweight. According to CBS page records, he only landed 84 strokes which is the worst record in the career of the Mexican boxer.

Kyrgyzstan's Bivol showed impressive performances throughout 12 rounds, so the three judges gave a landslide victory for Bivol 115-113, 115-113, and 115-111.

For Canelo, this was the second defeat in his career in the boxing ring and changed his record to 57 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. Canelo's first defeat was on September 14, 2014 to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Meanwhile, Bivol maintained a perfect record of 20 wins, neither draws nor losses. Starting the fight into the first three rounds, Bivol used his jab while Canelo did a lot of body punches. Bivol also excels in scoring.

From the fourth round to the sixth round, Bivol excelled in close combat. In the seventh round the referee Russell Mora continued to warn Bivol for often pushing Canelo's body.

Bivol continued to outperform Canelo from round eight to ten with Canelo looking exhausted. In the eleventh round Canelo got up and won the round. However, in the 12th round, Bivol continued to land a lot of hitting combinations on Canelo's face who looked tired.

"I'm happy I proved myself today, I'm the best in my division and I defended this belt. He's a great champion, I respect him and all his team," Bivol said as quoted by Reuters via ANTARA, Sunday, May 8.

"If you don't believe in yourself, what do you do? You achieve nothing. I believed and my team believed in me. I felt his strength. You could see in my arm, he hit my arm but not my head. That's better," he said.

Meanwhile, Saul sportsmanship acknowledged the superiority of his opponent. "I have no excuses. In boxing there are wins and losses. He was the better fighter tonight. Of course I want a rematch, it's not over here," Canelo said after the fight.

Bivol also confirmed he was ready to accept a rematch against Canelo, as mandated in the clause in their fight contract. "No problem, let's fight again. I want to be respected as world champion," said Bivol.