 "Canelo vs Bivol: Saul Alvarez pays price for both daring to be great and his hubris")
On Saturday, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez dared to be great and came up short. The Mexican fighter’s attempt at emulating many greats of the past – Roberto Duran, Manny Pacquiao, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson and many others – by taking on arguably the best available challenger at a weight above his ‘natural’ class is to be applauded. The P4P star, who began his professional career at 140 pounds at light welterweight, weighed in for Saturday’s light heavyweight bout at 174.4 pounds. Many would contend that’s at least seven pounds above his optimal fighting weight at this stage of his career. Canelo has never been afraid to challenge himself: From taking on Floyd Mayweather at the tender age of 23, to fighting Cuban spoiler Erislandy Lara against the wishes of his then-promoter Oscar De La Hoya and ultimately facing down middleweight destroyer Gennady Golovkin (just a shade too late for the taste of most boxing fans). And in taking on Dmitry Bivol, Canelo was once again, doing what great fighters should do: challenge himself. But the warning signs were there for those that wished to see. As this writer himself noted in a preview of Canelo taking on Callum Smith in 2020: What should concern them is how sluggish Canelo looked at that fight. Admittedly way out of his comfort zone, Canelo seemed to be daunted by the Russian’s sheer size and bothered by his once-vaunted but still eye-catching jab. Indeed, until he landed the thundering knockout in Round 11, Canelo was, in the estimation of many ringside experts (if not the judges), actually on his way to losing the fight. In coming back down to super middleweight, Canelo seems to have learned another hard lesson. That in boxing, size really does matter (ask fellow pound-for-pounder Vasiliy Lomachenko).” The lesson, it seems, was not learned.
Dmitry Bivol catch counter #CaneloBivol pic.twitter.com/c57SA2GQYB
— #CaneloCrawford (@BatmanBoxing) May 9, 2022
Canelo’s victories over Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith (two good fighters but hardly killers) and a way past his best Sergey Kovalev seemed to overinflate his ego and his views of his already estimable abilities. Proof of this can be found in the fact that prior to the fight with Bivol, the Mexican champion openly mused about possibly taking on Ukrainian phenom Oleksandr Usyk in the near future (though surely at a catchweight). Usyk recently dethroned Brit Anthony Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight crown. A fact more impressive when you consider that the undefeated Ukrainian made his bones as a cruiserweight road warrior by travelling to opponents’ home towns and taking their souls. Teddy Atlas himself – perhaps the foremost boxing authority – has stated that Usyk has a legitimate claim to the title of greatest cruiserweight in the history of the sport. On Saturday, each double and triple jab from Bivol that reddened Canelo’s face seemed to underscore the madness of the notion of ever facing Usyk. Not since his bout with Mayweather was Canelo so thoroughly neutered offensively. The former P4P king landed a mere 84 punches against Bivol across 12 rounds. He hardly threw a combination of note. Instead, he stuck with the gameplan against Saunders and Smith: throwing individual heavy, thudding shots to the shoulders and body and hoping to break Bivol down late in the fight. Not since his two fights with Golovkin – which many observers feel he was lucky to escape with a draw and gain a narrow victory respectively – was Canelo so put upon defensively. Bivol, the naturally bigger man, backed Canelo up all night, unloading combination after combination and big right hands. To which a thoroughly gassed-out Canelo responded by showboating on the ropes. Even here, where the cash cow of boxing was so thoroughly handled, the judges seemed to confer the narrowest of victories for Bivol (115-113). By all accounts, Canelo deserved not more than three rounds against Bivol .
DOWN GOES CANELO! 🗣
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 8, 2022
Dmitry Bivol takes down Canelo Alvarez via decision to retain his WBA Light Heavyweight title!
Canelo's first loss since 2013 pic.twitter.com/WPgFzKKap9
In the post-fight press conference, Canelo claimed he actually won the fight and that Bivol won only four or five rounds. But that can at least be excused by a fighter’s public stock and trade of deception and self-delusion. In every victory, seeds are sown for defeat. In every defeat, seeds are sown for victory. This defeat should force at least a private reckoning for Canelo and a move back down to 168 pounds. While he’s already talked about triggering an automatic rematch with Bivol, Canelo at least soft-pedalled it by saying he would first speak to his trainer Eddie Reynoso and his promoter Eddie Hearn. So what should Canelo do next? Former ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael put it succinctly on Twitter by posting a famous scene from Rocky II:
The conversation Eddy Reynoso needs to have with Canelo if he presses for the Bivol rematch. "He's all wrong for us, baby... We don't need that kinda man in our life." https://t.co/5DsGjNqddq #boxing #CaneloBivol
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) May 8, 2022
We’ll see what lessons the former P4P king learns from his humbling defeat, if any.
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