Via Dan Ambrose: Highly rated coach Andre Rozier says Dmitry Bivol will beat Canelo Alvarez tonight if the match is judged fair, but he doubts it.
Hopefully, we don’t see Canelo benefit from another questionable decision because he’s been involved in four of them over the past nine years.
If Rozier is right about WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) needing a knockout to win, he’s in an impossible situation because he’s not an artist. knockout, and Canelo has amazing punching resistance.
Bivol, 31, hasn’t knocked anyone down in his last six games, and when he does stop an opponent it’s Sullivan Barrera’s 12th-half offset in 2018. In In that war, Bivol beat Barrera with everything but the kitchen sink. until he finally folded at 12th.
If Bivol can rush out quickly, knocking out former four-tier world champion Canelo with powerful jabs and a one-two combo, he can cut him off and possibly concede.
Assuming Bivol overpowered Canelo the way he did with Jean Pascal, to whom the Russian boxer compared him, it would be impossible for the referees to let him decide. It would be too obvious if the referees gave Canelo a win or a draw in a match where Bivol eliminated him 12 innings.
If you’ve watched Bivol fight, he’s tough to beat, especially when fighting shorter fighters, and Canelo is easily the shortest opponent he’s faced in his career.
Canelo made a big mistake choosing to fight Bivol, as he is the best defensive boxer in the division, and he is less likely to beat him than Floyd Mayweather Jr did in 2013.
“I see this as a high-stakes boxing match. I have to give Bivol the edge,” coach Andre Rozier told Fighthype in favor of WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol to beat Canelo Alvarez tonight.
Rozier continued to talk about the undefeated Bivol. “We could talk about power and everything else, but all the nuances go in Bivol’s direction.
“Many Canelo fans like me, This is a difficult task for him to solve. No, I’m not saying he’s going to lose. If it goes 12 laps, we know it’s like when you go to England. If you knock someone down, you may be disqualified. That’s just the nature of the beast.
“We look forward to seeing a great battle. I can’t wait for it, as you can tell. I’m leaning on Bivol, straight up. No, I’m not really saying that,” said Rozier when asked if he predicted Bivol would take out Canelo.
“Honestly, I didn’t see Bivol take down, but I didn’t see him take down Canelo either. But if it’s fair, if all the pieces on the puzzle are fair“I have to say that Bivol, with his actual abilities and skill set, should be able to control the environment of that ring and win the decision,” Rozier said.
