Dmitry Bivol Keeps Level Head After Overcoming Canelo Alvarez
Among his fans, and far too many media outlets, undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KO’s) is portrayed as almost a mythical creature. For this brand of supporter, there is next to nothing that Canelo cannot do. They might even argue that he could crush a lump of coal into a diamond using only his right hand. In reality though, Alvarez is a regular human who has flaws and vulnerabilities like every other person breathing air.
Following this line of thinking, if being honest, the Mexican star has always had tremendous trouble with opponents who tote a great jab and are proficient on their feet. As evidence, one must only watch his bouts with Floyd Mayweather Jr, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Amir Khan and even the well-weathered Sergey Kovalev.
This specific combination of abilities has now led to a great downfall for the media darling. In his last match, against Super WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KO’s), Canelo found himself completely unable to generate any sort of meaningful or consistent offense versus the Russian champion. As a result he suffered the second official loss of his career.
THE GENTLE GIANT
Even though this is his best professional win by leaps and bounds, the light heavyweight champion is absorbing the victory in extremely subdued fashion. In the build-up, it was evident that Bivol was not getting caught up in the hype of the moment or over-awed by the redhead’s stature in the sport. Instead he approached the match like any other business endeavor and prepared like it was any other fight. In the end, his nose-down mentality paid off in a major way. Yet, even after besting the Mexican superstar the Russian was very low key in victory.
“To be honest no [I don’t think I’m the face of boxing], I just beat a guy who wanted my belt, in my mind today. And he was a super middleweight. Yes he had a belt in light heavyweight but I don’t feel myself that I am the king today! No, I just beat Canelo, I’m just better than him today.”
Throughout the build-up, Bivol has approached his fight with a cool reserve that served well up until the conclusion of the twelfth round. Yet, just because the WBA champion was not foaming at the mouth or raising a ruckus does not mean that he was not aware of the glaring double-standards he had to submit to. It was a trial he was willing to endure so that he could secure his once in a lifetime opportunity. In the end though, it appears that he played his hand just as he should have!
“I understand why I walk out second because Canelo is the biggest name. And the rules, all the rules, not for him! No problem, just give the fight! Yeah, he is first on the posters, no problem. The rules not for him, no problem, just give me the fight! I’m really happy I had the fight, thank you Eddie [Hearn].”
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By: Bakari Simpson
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