Negotiations between Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol have seemingly hit an impasse, according to the manager of Bivol, Vadim Kornilov.
Bivol in 2022 gave Canelo the second loss of his professional career with an against the widespread consensus showing against the current undisputed super-middleweight world champion, with the contest a defence of Bivol’s WBA world light-heavyweight title. Bivol would claim narrow unanimous decision points win with three identical cards of 115-113.
Canelo has made it clear that he does want to right the wrongs of that night and wants to explore a rematch with the WBA titleholder. It’s reasonable to believe that it might be possible considering that neither Canelo nor Bivol have any outstanding mandatory defence commitments with respect to their world titles and, in the case of Canelo, all four of the governing body world titles.
The main sticking point with any proposed rematch between Bivol and Canelo is down to the weight division in which the contest will take place. Bivol has made it no secret that he wishes to drop a weight class and challenge for Canelo’s undisputed title mantle. Canelo, on the other hand, is not interested in letting Bivol face him at 168 lbs. His terms are currently the same deal he faced Bivol at 175lbs and for Bivol’s WBA world title.
Kornilov, when speaking to ESPN Knockout, emphasised that any rematch with Canelo will not take place on the Mexican’s terms and that Bivol is willing to pass on the opportunity to face Canelo and instead push on in attempting to secure a fight with Artur Beterbiev.
“They don’t want a rematch (Canelo & team). They know that they lost very badly in the first fight and that they have less chance of winning in the second. When have you heard of a fighter who, after losing, asked for a rematch on the same terms?”
“In my opinion, I think they don’t want a rematch, and they are saying that to justify themselves and make another fight like they did with Golovkin, John Ryder and maybe Berlanga. A rematch cannot take place on the same terms as the fight you lost. It’s stupid. We are looking forward. Artur Beterbiev is our target”
It should be noted that the WBC has made it clear that they will not sanction any fight between any Russian or Belarusian fighter in their support of Ukraine and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Beterbiev is not subject to this ruling due to holding Canadian citizenship.
