Canelo Alvarez might not jump into rematch with Dmitry Bivol

Immediate rematch? Not necessary.

Canelo Alvarez reiterated that he would like to fight Dmitry Bivol again after losing a unanimous decision to the 175-pound titleholder Saturday in Las Vegas, saying at the post-fight news conference, “As I said, this doesn’t end this way.”

Eddy Reynoso, his manager and trainer, also made it clear that he’d like to see a rematch “to see what we can do better.”

However, the Mexican star, citing the fact his natural weight is 168, said he hasn’t decided whether he will exercise the rematch clause in the contract for Saturday’s fight.

Canelo Alvarez (left) said he doesn’t know whether he’ll face Dmitry Bivol again in his next fight. Joe Camporeale / USA TODAY Sports

Alvarez had been scheduled to face rival and middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin a third time in September.

“My natural weight, my most comfortable weight is 168,” he said through a translator. “That’s where we feel best. We’re going to see if we’re going to take on this rematch.”

Plus, Bivol reportedly wants to renegotiate terms for a second fight that are currently set down in the contract. He apparently made a reference to those terms immediately after the fight, saying, “I just want to make sure I can be treated like a champion now.”

Alvarez was asked about the possibility of further talks but said only, “We’ll see.”

He added later: “We’re going to see what’s next, to talk about it. We’ll let you know.”

Meanwhile, Alvarez, who believes he did enough to win the fight, seemed to be handling the setback well emotionally.

He has said repeatedly that he feeds off of genuine challenges. This was one of those. And when a fighter faces a stiff test, he said, sometimes things don’t go your way.

“I’m proud, very proud,” he said. “I’m a competitive person. I’ve gone up to 175, gone out of my comfort zone to fight at a weight that’s not time. No shame in that. I’m looking for challenges that others would be scared to take because they might lose.

Story continues

“That’s what I’m here for, and that’s what I want to do.”

Now we can only wait to see whether he truly wants the same challenge he faced on Saturday.

Related

Dmitry Bivol’s victory over Canelo Alvarez: round by round Twitter reacts to Dmitry Bivol’s shocking upset of Canelo Alvarez Dmitry Bivol stuns Canelo Alvarez, boxing world by winning unanimous decision