A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
No one should be stunned.
Light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol had a natural size advantage over supermiddleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in their bout Saturday in Las Vegas, which Bivol won by a unanimous decision.
However, that advantage would be nothing if he didn’t have unusual abilities along with his large numbers. And the Russian has proven he has a lot of it throughout his amateur and professional career in which he has dominated even elite opponents.
Of course, the pound-for-pound consensus king poses a greater challenge than any of Bivol’s previous opponents because of his own proven ability and experience in the big fights. In the end, however, Alvarez was just a light welterweight facing a natural 175-pound heavyweight with a comparable level.
Bivol was excellent, calm, controlled distance coolly with his dashes and quick, difficult combinations, and maintained a tight position that made Alvarez impenetrable. In the middle of the match, the Mexican star appeared depressed, tired and had no other choice.
No one – not even Gennadiy Golovkin – has been able to do it with the Mexican star since Floyd Mayweather in 2013. And Bivol has tipped Alvarez during his prime.
That wasn’t lost on the gracious loser, who said repeatedly before and after the fight that Bivol was an excellent fighter. As Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s coach, later said, “I said before the game that it was going to be a tough fight because he used distance very well.”
We’ll see where sadness leads to Bivol.
We could watch a rematch, although Alvarez won’t commit to it in his post-match press conference because of the difference in scale. Bivol said he wants to face the winner of the upcoming £175 title unification match between Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. to win the undisputed championship.
Only one thing is certain at the moment: Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) will never be seen like that. No matter what happens after this, he will always be the conqueror of the great Canelo.
TERRIBLE
The score of the Alvarez-Bivol fight – 115-113 across the board – makes it seem like the fight is over. It’s not.
Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) attempted to throw single power shots and the majority of them didn’t land to the head or body. According to CompuBox, he only landed a total of 84 punches – 7 per round – in the fight (compared to Bivol’s 152).
It was a career low for him in a 12-round bout. His next low? 117 in a one-sided loss to Mayweather.
All three judges awarded Alvarez the first four rounds, meaning he won only one of the last eight rounds with all three cards. That level of futility is unimaginable given the monarch’s dominance in terms of pounds in recent years.
So one of the most dominant warriors of his generation was ruled.
What can we do this?
Lifting weights to face a fighter with Bivol’s ability was a dangerous move that backfired. As they say, a good man will beat a good little man. The natural size advantage probably made it easier for Bivol to absorb punches. And the extra weight may have played a role in Alvarez’s decline.
However, this is not only about size, Bivol is better than Alvarez, who expands the case, works efficiently and ultimately outperforms him.
Of course, a setback does not define Alvarez, who has accomplished so much in the past decade. In this case, he hit a big hit and missed. He should be applauded for trying his hand at it when so many boxers seem to shy away from real challenges. And, as he says, losing is part of boxing.
At the same time, Alvarez will not be seen quite the same. He carried an aura of invincibility, the product of his 15-0-1 record in his previous 16 games against an almost top-notch opponent.
Bivol shattered that notion with a convincing victory, proving that an exceptionally good boxer with the same physical strength as Alvarez could defeat him.
Suddenly, the chance for David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo and Demetrius Andrade to beat Alvarez seemed much less remote.
WORSE
The referees almost avoided an unfortunate decision.
All three of them gave 12order and a final round with Bivol, which proved to be decisive. If two or three of them are given the frame to Alvarez, the fight will end in a draw where anyone watching the match with their eyes tilted.
I scored it 117-111 for the Bivol, nine laps into three. I gave Alvarez two of the first four rounds and one of the last eight. I can see 116-112, eight rounds into four. 115-113? No. That doesn’t reflect what happened in the ring.
Again, the CompuBox figure is not yet accurate. However, sometimes they help tell the story, which is the case here. Bivol hit two numbers in each round, Alvarez was two.
Indeed, the Bivol is as good as advertised in terms of defense. Later, Alvarez admitted that his opponent was “very difficult to hit in the head.”
So how does the jury find 5 rounds to give to Alvarez?
The first four rounds are competitive. Alvarez would need the benefit of every doubt to win all four, which doesn’t make sense. Bivol boxed too early in the fight to be disqualified.
At least the judges – Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld – were right eight laps later. More importantly, the right man finally raised his hand.
That’s what people will remember.
BAGS DOLL
Alvarez beat out brilliantly, repeatedly acknowledging Bivol for his victory and offering no excuses. He said he did enough to win the fight but wasn’t overly confident. And he points out that Bivol’s size advantage may only come into play when a reporter asks him about it. Kudo to him for the way he handled himself. … If I had to guess, I’d say Alvarez will fight Golovkin for a third time in September instead of a second against Bivol because of his size disadvantage. He will fight Triple-G at 168 pounds. And Bivol will likely pursue a fight with the winner of the Beterbiev-Smith war, which Beterbiev is favored to win. Bivol vs. Alvarez II may then occur. … Alvarez has expressed interest in fighting the light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk if Usyk agrees to a catch weight of 201 pounds. That notion seems absurd given what we witnessed on Saturday. Obviously, it is possible to think too big. Roy Jones Jr. transition from light heavyweight to superior heavyweight John Ruiz but Alvarez is not Jones and Ruiz is not Usyk.
