Challenger Canelo Alvarez weighed in at 174.4 pounds, and WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) weighed in at 174.6 lbs for Saturday’s headliner on DAZN PPV.
Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) reached out to grab Bivol’s right arm at the end of their face-off in what was a clear example of the Mexican star trying to size up his taller 6’0″ foe to see whether he could reach him.
It’s going to be much tougher for Canelo on Saturday to nail Bivol with his shots because the Russian fighter is mobile and on a much different level than the 168-lb champions, Alvarez defeated last year to become the undisputed champion at super middleweight.
When it came time for Bivol to speak to the crowd after weighing in, some of the fans booed him. However, he soon had the boxing fans eating out of the palm of his hand after letting them know how motivated he is, thanks to them.
“This is the first time I see a lot of Mexican fans against me,” said an amped-up Dmitry Bivol moments after weighing in successfully at 174.6 lbs.
“You people are motivating me. All my life I’ve been in boxing and I’ve won many times. Why I shouldn’t this time,” said Bivol. “To be honest, I’m only focused on the fight to make a great fight for the people, for the boxing fans.
“I don’t think about what will be after the fight, what will be on May 8th. I don’t have any plans. Only plans on the fight. First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone that supports me and believes in me.
“Thank you; I will try to make a great fight for you,” said Bivol.
“He’s a really cool customer. He has some good wins under his belt, whether it’s Jean Pascal, Joe Smith Jr, and all kinds of different foes that he’s fought,” said ring announcer David Diamante to Pro Boxing Fans about Dmitry Bivol.
“He’s undefeated and has that amateur pedigree. He seems very, very cool & calm in this. They’re both respectful fighters. I think he’s excited about this opportunity, as is Canelo.
“I think they’re both excited about this fight. As a fan, I’m excited. I’ll be in the ring calling it, but I’m also a fan. I can’t wait to be ringside to watch it.
“There have been so many great Mexican fighters over the years, but Canelo is definitely in the conversation. He’s up there, and I think there’s no doubt that he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
Canelo-Bivol undercard fights:
Montana Love 140 vs. Gabriel Gollaz 138.6
Shakhram Giyasov 146.6 vs. Christian Gomez 146
Marc Castro 134.8 vs. Pedro Vicente 134.8
Zhilei Zhang 276.2 vs. Scott Alexander 222.6
Joselito Velazquez 112.4 vs. Jose Soto 113.8
Alexis Espino 163.6 vs. Aaron Silva 164.4
Elnur Abduraimov 129.6 vs. Manuel Correa 128.6
Fernando Molina 139.6 vs. Ricardo Valdovinos 139.4
