In the first part of our combat sports double header this weekend we have one of the more intriguing boxing matches in recent history lined up with both guys ready to put on a show. Pound for pound king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be doing battle with light heavyweight champion Dimitry Bivol.
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas | DAZN PPV, 8 p.m. ET
We’ve come to expect Canelo Alvarez to steamroll basically any opponents he’s had in front of him. Outside of his loss to the all time great Floyd Mayweather, along with some battles with Erislandy Lara, GGG and some other fights where you can split hairs, the man has looked unbeatable. He’s one of the best counter punchers in the business. He has vicious hooks and crosses, and isn’t afraid to go into a fire fight with his opponents because he has the punching power to put your lights out, with a chin cavemen would be jealous of. But lately some have questioned if Canelo is having some delusions of grandeur. I mean, just this week he challenged heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to a catchweight bout at 201 pounds so that he would make the heavyweight limit.
In boxing history we’ve had some guys who won titles in multiple weight classes. I’m not talking about the guys in the “junior, light, super” etc we have now. We have to go back to the days of the legendary boxers of old, Willie Pep, Sam Langford, and Harry Greb. Not recognizing any of these names? That’s to be expected, they were pros before your grandparents were even alive, fighting in the early 1900s. However in 2022 Canelo Alvarez is attempting to put his name in the hat with guys of that stature. Langford for instance fought in every division from lightweight to heavyweight. Absurdity, and yet here we see Canelo who began his career down at 140 (welterweight), climbing up potentially 60 pounds for a potential heavyweight matchup. But he can’t look past one of the top guys at 175 in Bivol.
Dimitry Bivol is the currently undefeated WBA super light heavyweight champion, and yet almost no one knows about him. While his 19-0 record pales in comparison to the 57-1-2 record that Alvarez boasts but he is far from inexperienced when it comes to this boxing game, Holding a 268-15 record as an amateur. Some of the best fighters ever cut their teeth in the amateur arena, and this experience usually leads them to becoming incredibly technically sound and strong defensive boxers, two qualities Bivol possesses . He has held onto his championship since 2016 with 12 title defenses to date. He also provides a challenge that Canelo has not seen before that many are overlooking-a sheer size advantage. 168 to 175 pounds is a big jump, and while Canelo’s power has seemingly moved up with him, at 5’8 175 he would be one of the smaller guys in his current division, and he will face significant height and reach disadvantages as he continues upward. Bivol is no powerhouse, but we also have to see how Canelo reacts to these punches as he moves up.
| Favorite | Underdog | Weight Class |
| Saul “Canelo” Alvarez -550 | Dmitry Bivol (c) +400 | WBA light heavyweight championship |
| Zhilei Zhang -1500 | Scott Alexander +800 | Heavyweights |
| Montana Love -700 | Gabriel Valenzuela +500 | Junior Welterweights |
| Shakhram Giyasov -340 | Christian Gomez +270 | Welterweights |
| Marc Castro -4000 | Pedro Vincente +1500 | Lightweights |
Predictions:
Tim: When it comes to predictions, this fight is a tough one. Both of these boxers are defensively solid counter punchers with a strong base, and while Bivol boasts the athletic advantages it’s hard to bet against the P4P king. This fight has huge implications for where Canelo will stand on an all time list and the implications can’t be understated. All that being said, I think Canelo Alvarez takes the win by decision in a surprisingly competitive matchup.
Joe: In my opinion, Bivol was supposed to be the next great boxer within his division. After seeing Dmitry fight twice in person, against both Isaac Chilemba and Jean Pascal, he hasn’t continued to develop as planned. An extremely technically sound boxer he hasn’t knocked an opponent out since 2018 which came in the last round of his bout against Sullivan Barrera. Generally, the strength of a larger fighter is that they should have the power punching ability to put a smaller opponent on the floor but Bivol hasn’t seemed to have that “light heavy weight power” for over four years. In a battle of technique Canelo is going to use his speed and defense to push Bivol from the jump. Since he is smaller than his opponent, I believe this ends in a UD.