Canelo Alvarez’s high ambition finally caught up with him on Saturday when the king of pounds for the pound met with his match in the form of undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), a four-division champion, made a career-low 84 shots in 12 rounds as Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) relied on his defense and accurate shots to endured the upset by a unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three referees scored 115-113 for Bivol in a battle that seemed anything but competitive, as CBS Sports scored 119-109 in favor of Bivol.
“I’m sorry I ruined your plans [for a fall trilogy fight against] Gennady Golovkin, maybe, “said Buffalo.” Congratulations [Alvarez], he is a great champion and I respect him. But if you don’t believe in yourself, what do you do? You will achieve nothing. I believe and my team believes. ”
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Six months after becoming the first undisputed champion in the super middleweight category with four belts, Alvarez returned to 175 pounds for the first time since winning the WBC title by knockout by Sergei Kovalev in 2019. But that same week he annoyed a possible future moving into the heavyweight division, Alvarez failed to break through the technical strength of Bivol, a former Russian amateur star whose strength silenced the attack of his opponents.
Buffalo’s shot was accurate all the time, and he consistently responded to each shot taken by Alvarez with clean combinations in return. Buffalo allowed Alvarez to stand close in front of him, but never gave him a clean enough area to land on.
Most of the damage Alvarez suffered was in the left shoulder and arm of Buffalo, who remained firm behind his high guard.
“I felt his strength. “As you can see from my hand, he hit my hand, but not my head,” said Bivol. “It’s better. He had good speed and strength. Maybe his mistake was just hitting hard. After a hard blow, he relaxed and got tired.
“I felt great. It was the biggest match of my career and I liked this match. When people whistled at me, it gave me more energy.”
Alvarez, whose previous only loss was against Floyd Mayweather in 2013, was associated with just 17% of his shots against Buffalo and was ahead of 152 to 84, according to CompuBox. He then told reporters that he thought he was ahead of the final rounds.
“He’s a great champion. Sometimes in boxing you win or you lose. I lost today and he won,” Alvarez said. “He’s a really good fighter. He’s a fighter who comes in and out. I also felt his strength. It was a good victory for him.”
After the match, Alvarez shared hopes for a rematch, which Buffalo seemed prone to.
“Revenge? No problem. Let’s talk about rematch,” said Bivol. “I took this battle because I just wanted the opportunity and I appreciate the opportunity. I’m ready for the rematch, I just want to be sure that I will win and now I’m being treated like a champion. “
It is unclear what will happen to Alvarez. The undisputed champion in the super middleweight category was expected to face Gennady Golovkin in September to complete his trilogy, but a potential rematch could be played with Buffalo, as well as another contender in the middle or super middleweight category. One thing is for sure, however, that this was Bivol’s night and he will be able to celebrate naturally.
The subcard saw that some growing prospects are taking the next step in their development. Montana Love knocked down and then suffered one of its own against Gabriel Golaz on the road to victory with a decision in the co-main event in the junior welterweight division. And 22-year-old Marc Castro went six rounds ahead of Pedro Vicente as the legates slowly made their way to higher levels of competition.
CBS Sports will be with you all night in Las Vegas, so be sure to follow the live scores and highlights below.
Alvarez vs. Buffalo battle card, results
- Dmitry Bivol (c) def. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez with unanimous decision (115-113, 115-113, 115-113)
- Montana Love Def. Gabriel Golaz with unanimous decision (114-112, 114-112, 114-112)
- Shahram Giyasov def. Christian Gomez with unanimous decision (99-88, 99-88, 98-89)
- Mark Castro def. Pedro Vicente with unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 60-54)
- Zhilei Zhang def. Scott Alexander knocked out in the first round
Alvarez vs. Buffalo
Alvarez9999999910999109Bivol (c) 10101010101010109101010119
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