Tony Bellew believes Saul Alvarez needs to improve to maintain his position at the top of the sport.
The former WBC cruiser world champion criticized the Mexican superstar after his defeat to Dmitry Bivol in May.
‘Canelo’, after rising in super-middleweight, steps up to light-heavyweight and lost to WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in a shock earlier this year.
And Bellew thinks more will come from the multi-weight king, although there are areas to refine.
Talk to Ade Oladipo on Boxing DAZN Shown, Bellew said the Mexican player must do better and perhaps improve his matchmaking:
“He has to do better.
“Whether it’s the games he’s making or whatever… If you want to set such a high standard, you have to maintain it and stay there.”
Alvarez returns to the ring on September 17, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, when he met Gennadiy Golovkin in their three part battle super average.
Bellew goes on to praise Canelo and insists he remains at the top of the p4p list:
“He was amazing, he was still there every single table, even though people took him off their roster as soon as he lost to Bivol.
“Absolutely not, he is still there for me, but there are some things he has to do better. If he played the A-game that night with Bivol, I think he would beat him. He’s not in his A-game so he has to do even better. “
Bellew recently revealed that he is supporting Alvarez to defeat Russia’s Bivol if this pair ever meets again, but if it does happen, it doesn’t seem likely to happen next.
Eddie Hearn, who promotes Bivol with World Of Boxing, has said that a fight against Gilberto Ramirez – the Mexican whom the WBA has installed as the latest mandatory challenger – or Britain’s Joshua Buatsi looks set to be next. , despite Alvarez’s wish to be wrong in May 2023.
