MASAM SPORTS 57: OSCAR DE LA HOYA SAYS HE WOULD HAVE NEVER ALLOWED CANELO ALVAREZ TO FIGHT DMITRY BIVOL
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 14 May 2022
Golden Boy Promotions owner Oscar De La Hoya showed disagreement over the fight between undisputed world super middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) and WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs).
Canelo vaulted up to 175 pounds to fight in the light heavyweight division but was outclassed in twelve rounds by Bivol, who won by a convincing unanimous decision.
Despite coming into the bout as an underdog, with most odds-makers betting on him a +400 underdog, Bivol won the fight, 115–113 on all three judges' scorecards.
Bivol won the interim WBA light-heavyweight title on May 21, 2016, beating previously undefeated Felix Valera of Dominican Republic by unanimous decision. Bivol dominated Valera, dropping him twice en route to a lopsided win.
With the WBA's regular and super titles being vacated, interim champion Bivol was elevated to full champion.
De La Hoya promoted Canelo for over a decade, but the two sides had a misunderstanding and officially parted ways in November 2020 after Alvarez's lawsuit for breach of contract against Golden Boy and streaming service DAZN was settled.
Canelo signed an 11-fight, $365 million deal in 2018 to fight exclusively on DAZN, but he filed the lawsuit after Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN were unable to agree on his next opponent or purse for the fight.
After the breakup, Canelo has worked with promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom to promote several of his latest fights.
Canelo signed a three-fight contract with Hearn and Matchroom. According BoxingScene, Canelo and his team skipped a two-fight deal with Premier Boxing Champions, which was a fight with Jermall Charlo and the second match would be with David Benavidez at super middleweight or against Errol Spence at a catch-weight.
The first fight promoted by Matchroom was his encounter with Bivol. After the fight, Canelo would then defend his world undisputed super middleweight title against Gennadiy Golovkin in September.
De La Hoya highly criticized the move of Canelo to light heavyweight and face the undefeated Russian boxer Bivol, because the opponent is relatively unknown and fights a very difficult boxing style.
"The fact that the promoter of this event pushed Bivol on Canelo, it was the dumbest move in boxing history … it’s not knowing boxing. It was the stupidest move … whoever allowed Canelo to fight Bivol. I would’ve never allowed Canelo to fight Bivol," De La Hoya told Lance Pugmire of USA Today.
"Look exactly at what happened. Canelo’s on the top of the world. He’s the king. Why fight a guy that if Canelo fights 10 times, he loses 10 times? And he has nothing to gain. Nothing to win. Nobody knew Bivol.
"It’s [the promoter’s] job to guide a fighter’s career. It’s your job to know what’s the best move, to see what the biggest and best fight for his career is. This was a terrible fight for Canelo’s career. Styles make fights. Bivol’s a great fighter. And nobody knew who Bivol was before this fight. People were not even thinking of Bivol."
Bivol, age 31, was born in Tokmak, Kirghiz SSR,
Soviet Union, now Kyrgyzstan. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2013 World Combat Games in the light heavyweight category.
Canelo, also 31 of Guadalajara, Mexico, is very interested in facing Bivol in a rematch, which the Russian champ also agreed. But De La Hoya advises that the next match should be the trilogy with Golovkin.
"We obviously promoted Canelo and were successful. The next move, if I were his promoter, is to go back to 168 where you’re the champion, have GGG move up to 168, knock him out and be on top of the world again," De La Hoya said.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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