Via Sean Jones: When looking back at Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn’s best matches of 2022, you have to pick Dmitry Bivol’s best match against Canelo Alvarez by far as the best of the bunch.
The Battle of Canelo-Bivol stands out among the other big fights that Hearn has scheduled for 2022 because of its completely unexpected results.
Entering the competition, it was assumed that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) would knock out undefeated WBA lightweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) just as he did when he won. four titles in 168th place last year to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Bivol overturned the apple cart, taking advantage of Canelo’s injured left hand and inadequate game planning to win against this type of opponent.
While Hearn is sure to have some great fights in 2022, most of the time, the A-side boxer won.
It’s just a rare occasion that you feel uncomfortable. For example, you can’t consider Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Anthony Joshua as an upset in their August rematch because he beat AJ in their first bout.
“Yes, Canelo-Bivol, now that you look back, and you start to think, ‘Why don’t people give Dmitry Bivol more chances? Why is Canelo vs Dmitry Bivol?’” Eddie Hearn said Boxing matchreflects on arguably the best event he’s promoted in 2022 between WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and former quadruple world champion Saul Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas.
“The answer is because he wants a challenge. He becomes undisputed at 168 [in 2021]. He wanted to challenge himself, and he probably took more bites than he could chew,” Hearn continued about Canelo going a step too far.
I disagree with Hearn’s theory as to why Canelo chose to fight Bivol. It is generally believed that Canelo rose to 175 to relieve his heat from fans who wanted him to fight David Benavidez.
Canelo’s decision to move up to lightweight to challenge Bivol for his WBA belt is essentially a move to avoid a dangerous fight with Benavidez that could end badly for the red-haired Mexican superstar.
“Dmitry Bivol, long considered a secret, but an extremely talented fighter, just called for that opportunity. He won it that night, and he wowed the world,” Hearn said.
“He didn’t come as a shock to everyone, but he shocked the world at large by beating the number one in the pound, and that was the real start to Dmitry Bivol’s career.
“I’ve been to Las Vegas; one, when I was a kid, and two, when my dad was promoting some shows, and three was a B-side promoter. I always look at the fighters coming into the MGM lobby and think, ‘Wow, that’s unbelievable.
“Walk down the strip and see Matchroom or Canelo and Bivol on the strip. I never thought I would get there because I never thought this is what UK promoters do. They don’t get TV contracts in the US.
“They don’t appreciate the number one pound, the biggest star in America. It’s been a great relationship for us. To create those epic nights in Las Vegas is truly the greatest moment for any promoter. Hearn said Canelo-Bivol will go down on one of those nights because it’s one of the biggest upsets of the year.
“We were in the three biggest games in America this year. Taylor-Serrano, Canelo-Bivol and Canelo-GGG. We did it all. Sometimes people want to try to downplay what we do because they’re scared. They are afraid of what we do.
“They were afraid of what we did, and they were afraid of what we were going to do. But we know what we did. We were there that night. We were there for the Canelo-GGG. We were there for Taylor-Serrano., Chocolatito-Estrada and all the other events we were going through,” Hearn said.
