Since his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Canelo Alvarez has had the luxury of having things on his terms.
By the sound of things, for the first time in a long time, a fighter is standing up to Alvarez.
Dmitry Bivol has already faced Alvarez once and beat the Mexican star with room to spare. Bivol controlled the pace of the face and looked like the superior technical boxer.
Despite the loss, Alvarez feels like the rematch should be on his terms starting with the weight.
Bivol wants the fight at 168 lbs while Alvarez prefers 175 lbs.
I can’t blame Bivol for not wanting to fight at 175 lbs when you consider what Canelo would rehydrate to whether there’s a clause or not.
Furthermore, Bivol was an established champion before fighting Alvarez. He’s earned the right to dictate major terms whether he is on the “A” side or not.
In the second fight with Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran allowed Leonard to dictate a lot of the major terms including the size of the ring. It was part of Duran’s undoing.
The same happened when Marvin Hagler fought Leonard. Hagler allowing Leonard to set the terms including ring size and number of rounds also played a part in Hagler’s loss.
The two sides are still negotiating so the fight could still happen but, from a boxing perspective, Bivol facing Artur Bieterbiev is a lot more compelling.
Furthermore, from a fan perspective, who is beating down the door for a rematch? Certainly not the fans.
