After upset of Canelo Alvarez, Dmitry Bivol says rematch is ‘no problem’

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Hours later and hundreds of miles from Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby upset, there was another enormous sports surprise Saturday night as Dmitry Bivol scored a unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez in their WBA light heavyweight title bout.

Bivol toppled Alvarez, one of the sport’s top stars, in a fight that was scored 115-113 by all three judges in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three scored the first four rounds for Alvarez, but Bivol took seven of the final eight rounds on all three cards, with Alvarez winning only the ninth. The Russian fighter (20-0, with 11 knockouts) used his 4-inch height advantage to hand Alvarez only his second loss and retain his title for the ninth time.

“I prove myself today, I’m the best [in my division],” Bivol said (via ESPN). “Eddie Hearn, sorry I broke your plans [to promote an Alvarez fight] with Gennadiy Golovkin.”

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn called the fight “unbelievable” (via Yahoo). “We talked going into this fight how good Dmitry Bivol is, how tough this fight was and it was a punch-perfect performance. He had to box exactly the way he did to win the fight. “Did Canelo look a little bit flat? Did he look tired? I think it was the brilliance of Dmitry Bivol.”

The 31-year-old Bivol, who lives in St. Petersburg, did not have his country’s national anthem played because many athletes from his country have been barred from competing in sports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He entered the arena to boos, while Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 knockouts) entered as a mariachi band played “The Final Countdown” and fireworks exploded. He stood on an elevated platform and raised a fist before entering the ring, where Bivol waited.

With Saturday’s upset, Alvarez, the super-middleweight champion who stepped up in weight to fight Bivol, will exercise his right to a rematch in September instead of facing Golovkin for the third time.

“It doesn’t end like this,” said Alvarez, who had not lost since he was beaten as a 23-year-old by Floyd Mayweather in 2013. “No excuses, I lost today; he is a great boxer. … I felt his power. He comes in and he goes out. He manages his distance really well.”

A rematch will be “no problem,” Bivol said after a fight in which Yahoo’s Kevin Iole said he “outboxed Alvarez. He outthought him. He out-hustled him.” Nor was Bivol, according to Iole, “intimidated by his aura or his raucous crowd” or “overwhelmed by the moment.”

Alvarez appeared to rally in the ninth round, but said he was overtaken by fatigue.

“I don’t feel like I lost the fight,” Alvarez said. “… We want the rematch, and we’re going to do better in the rematch. Tonight, I was looking for greatness. I have many years ahead of me, and I’m going to come back stronger.”

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