Dmitry Bivol Clearly Prefers Beterbiev for Undisputed Over Canelo Rematch
In his last prizefight, Super WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KO’s) turned in another stellar performance. He accomplished this by out-working, outmaneuvering and outclassing the top-rated Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez to snag a unanimous decision win. In fact, Bivol just put the first blemish on Ramirez’s professional career. Naturally the boxing public wants to know what is next for him. The two obvious choices are unified 175-pound champion Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KO’s), for undisputed, or undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KO’s), for the money.
There are clearly those in the fanbase and media who are enamored with Alvarez and want to see him run the Bivol fight back. Directly before his bout with Ramirez, Bivol thoroughly dominated the redhead en route to a unanimous decision win. Before this last duel with Zurdo, Canelo stated that if the Kyrgyzstani champion prevailed over his fellow Mexican, he would be interested in a rematch. It’ll be revealing to see how gung-ho Canelo is, or isn’t, about that theoretical rematch at this point. Regardless though, Bivol himself has never displayed much enthusiasm about the rematch with Alvarez.
TAKE A NUMBER, SIR
Following the scrap with Ramirez, in a brief interview with IFL TV, the Super WBA light heavyweight champion doubled down on his desire to face Beterbiev.
“Of course, [the] fight for belt belts, I want to be undisputed. But, if you are a good promoter, you will think about money. And we have to find a compromise! For legacy, it’s better for belts, than fight Canelo. Its two good options, of course it’s great options. Fight for Canelo is good too, but better fight for another belt.”
This has all got to be terrible news and a sharp blow to Canelo’s ego. To begin, Bivol is a steep uphill battle for him to win physically in the ring. Yet, outside the ring, not only was he branded with his second loss, he is publicly being thrown on the backburner as an afterthought fight. For the long-time face and ambassador of the sport, that can’t be an easy burden to bear, no matter how nonchalant he may try to seem. So let’s watch and see how this fight triangle plays out over the next several months.
By: Bakari Simpson
Be the first to comment