Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeated Edgar Berlanga last month to retain his unified super middleweight world titles in relatively routine fashion.
The Mexican knocked down Berlanga en route to a wide points decision, keeping his belts and moving on to what’s next. For him, the ideal would be a rematch with Dmitry Bivol after the Russian handed him the second loss of his career in 2022.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Bivol was asked what he thought of his opponent’s latest performance, praising the knockdown and the tactics used to score it.
“To be honest, I didn’t watch the whole fight. I watched the knockdown with the left hook. It was a really good knockdown. It was his signature, making you think he wants to get to the body but [he throws] a hook. But I didn’t watch the whole fight because I don’t need to watch [his] fights for [my] preparation.”
On the prospect of a second meeting with Canelo, Bivol said he was fully focused on Artur Beterbiev on October 12 for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.
“I’m not thinking about Canelo because I have my fight. We had a year and a half waiting, does he want to fight or not? It was just talks and no action. It’s a closed issue. Now I’m busy with Beterbiev and we’ll see what happens next.”
Previous talks for a rematch fell through over a disagreement over weight: Bivol expressed interest in moving down to challenge for Canelo’s belts, while the Mexican wanted to return to light heavyweight as in the first fight.
