By Gerardo Romero
03 Jun 2024, 10:18 AM EDT
The Russian boxer and still champion at 175 pounds of the World Boxing Association (WBA), Dmitry Bivol, was quite confident after beating Malik Zinad in the sixth round in the fight they starred in this Saturday in Saudi Arabia to defend his title, making it very clear that he remains one of the best pound for pound today.
During a recent interview for Fight Hub, the fighter was asked if he wants to face the Mexican and undisputed super middleweight champion (168 pounds) again, Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez; In his words he highlighted that he is not denied the possibility of a rematch against the Aztec but he also assured that it is not something that will happen in the near future as it is not currently among his plans.
“I don’t have him (Canelo) on my agenda, nor on my mind. My mind is somewhere else right now. I have another route. Maybe in the future, we can face each other again, but not in the short term. I don’t see that fight anytime soon. I can still give 168 pounds, but I have other plans, I have a contract with the Saudis and with Matchroom. Now I see my future with the Saudis, and with the options I have in my contract with them, and going down to 168 pounds is not in the plans. We have a little different plans,” said Bivol when explaining the reasons why he did not reach an agreement with Canelo.
“At that moment, I was free. When I did the fight with Canelo, afterwards I was free and could choose different paths, I could go down to 168 to fight him. At that time, I could do anything, but right now I can’t anymore. We had the chance to do it for a couple of years, but his team and mine couldn’t reach an agreement, and I thought there was no problem, and I moved on,” the Russian added in his statements.
Let us remember that Canelo Álvarez faced Dmitry Bivol in May 2022 when the man from Guadalajara rose to 175 pounds to win the WBA title; Despite this intense work to be in the best possible conditions, the Mexican was clearly surpassed by unanimous decision.
Álvarez was able to request a rematch immediately but despite that he reached an agreement to do the trilogy of fights against Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin and then have surgery on his left hand; After his recovery, he returned to the ring in 2023 to face John Ryder and thus begin a new path of victories in his career as a professional to maintain the undisputed super middleweight title.
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