JAKARTA - The defeat of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez to Dmitry Bivol at the weekend made something clear: the two will be rivals for a while.
And this rightly implies that the Mexican boxer will ask for a future rematch or, conversely, the Russian will seek Canelo's belt.
The latter situation appears to be in Bivol's plans, as he decisively wants to drop into the 168 pound category with the aim of challenging Canelo in the world championship.
"He has a belt in supermiddleweight, maybe that's his natural category to fight.... Maybe his next fight could be for four belts in his division, at supermiddleweight," Bivol said on his Behind the Gloves YouTube channel. May 10.
Canelo, recently dedicated himself to dominating the 168 pound category and from there he managed to win four unification titles, as well as a title from The Ring magazine.
Canelo holds the titles of World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation. For the WBA, WBC, and The Ring, he got it in 2020, while the WBO and IBF he got it last year.
The IBF belt is the latest he has owned, since last November after beating Caleb Plant to unify all the super middleweight belts.
Therefore, what Bivol is now preparing to do is destroy Canelo's power in the division, although he may have to wait until next year.
It's time for Bivol to get a better reputation, because after beating "the best cross-division boxer in boxing" by boxing specialists, analysts and websites, the Russian is said to be able to increase his fame if he stays on the winning track.
However, that situation may not be in the 168-pound division, but in the 175-pound division, where it can achieve championship unification. Namely, defeating compatriot Arthur Beterbiev, who holds the WBC and IBF belts, as well as challenging American Joe Smith Jr. to fight for the WBO title.
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