Via Jack Tiernan: Match promoter Eddie Hearn said he is working on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol early next year on the Cinco de Mayo holiday in May 2023.
It won’t be a good idea if Canelo rematch with Bivol, 31, this year as he needs a lot of work to fix the game holes that the talented 175-lb WBA champion exposed in his victory.
The most logical reason to move the Bivol war to 2023 is Canelo can’t lose hand-to-hand combat against him. If that happens, Canelo’s career will indeed be on fire, and Hearn won’t be able to put it out without making it worse.
Hearn insists Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) is planning a rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs), but he has a few other bouts that he will join this year before that.
Canelo will face Gennadiy Golovkin in a rematch in September on DAZN pay-per-view in a three-part match.
If Golovkin is still shooting at all eight turrets and is young, Canelo can afford to wait until next year to fight him. At 40, Golovkin was too old in his years for Canelo to stop the trio for much longer.
“We spoke with Bivol and his team; we are doing a rematch against Cinco De Mayo next year. There’s no way he [Canelo] Eddie Hearn said to DAZN Boxing Show.
Hopefully Canelo doesn’t lose too many fans for choosing not to try and avenge his loss to Bivol this year. Many people won’t relate to Canelo delaying the rematch against Bivol because that’s not what they would do if they were in the same boat.
Canelo will fight in December, but that is expected to be an easier fight for him to fight in the UK or Mexico. Hearn wants Canelo to play in the UK against John Ryder, his mandatory 168-lb WBA.
Bivol beat Canelo by 12-round unanimous decision a few weeks ago on May 7 in Las Vegas in a match shown on DAZN PPV. Hearn said the contest delivered outstanding pay-per-view numbers.
With Canelo choosing not to rematch Bivol until 2023, it will allow Dmitry to move in the direction of fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship against the winner of the June 18 bout between Artur Betterbiev and Joe Smith Jr.
If Bivol can become the undisputed champion this year, his rematch with Canelo will be much more prominent in May 2023. Will Canelo have a chance to become a two-tournament champion? debatable.
