Boxing Challenge: Bivol Upsets Canelo!

      Dmitry Bivol pulled the surprise of the last few years in boxing as Bivol retained his WBA light heavyweight title via a closer on the cards than expected unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas.

The judges all had the same score of 115-113 (7-5 in rounds) which seems far closer than I saw it (117-111) and many others had the bout even larger in favor of Bivol, who overcame the judges giving Alvarez the first four rounds and placed Bivol in the position of needing to win the final three rounds of a fight he controlled to win the decision.

Bivol did just that and avoided yet another controversial decision given to Alvarez in Las Vegas.

Bivol used a heavy jab to keep Canelo's offense at bay much as Gennady Golovkin did with his jab in his two fights vs Alvarez and even more effectively as Alvarez spent much of the fight with his back against the ropes, again much as he did against Golovkin in their first fight.

Canelo won the first and third rounds on my card but his face was reddening as early as the second round and Alvarez started to show signs of fatigue as early as the fifth round as Bivol began to pick up speed and dominate the exchanges.

Alvarez did have a strong ninth round as he attempted to try for a stoppage that his corner must have thought that he needed although the scorecards would have him leading entering and leaving the ninth round.

Bivol took back control against Alvarez, who had clearly used his final bullet in the ninth round, and swept the final three rounds, which he needed due to the ridiculous scorecards of the judges.

For Bivol, it was the performance of his career and restored some shine to an undefeated career that had sputtered of late with uninspired efforts against underwhelming opposition and a less than willing desire to attempt to score exciting victories.

For Alvarez, it may have shown the limits of pushing a stocky but smaller frame too high and that his win over Sergey Kovalev at the weight may have been defeating an aging and flawed champion more than an ability to compete at the top level at 175 pounds.

Bivol could fight the winner of the three belt unification between Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith (Bivol owns a decision win over Smith) to an undisputed title but the big money is in a Canelo rematch.

Canelo could make sizable dollars defending his four titles in a planned third fight against Gennady Golovkin or even a defense against a lesser contender in England or Mexico but he may decide to take the Bivol rematch instead strictly on pride.

A stunning upset in the world of boxing with ramifications throughout the sport, shaking it with more than only a championship as the top star in the sport could have his schedule for the next eighteen months changed over only one night.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 70 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 59 Pts (0)

Ramon Malpica : 58 Pts (2)