Ryan Garcia Says he now thinks Canelo Alvarez would defeat unbeaten Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) after watching him labor to a 12-round majority decision win over Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) to capture the undisputed light heavyweight championship last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Canelo would have to show some courage to move up to 175 to fight Beterbiev because he’s never once shown a desire to fight him. When Canelo moved up to 175 in 2019, he bypassed Beterbiev to fight an old Sergey Kovalev.
In 2022, Canelo came up to light heavyweight again and picked Bivol, who only had one belt, rather than face unified champion Beterbiev. Canelo skipped him for a reason.
Beterbiev’s power and pressure would be trouble for Canelo, but the fight would be exciting. If Canelo wants to become an undisputed champion at 175 and expand his legacy, fighting Beterbiev would be the way to do it. He could mess up WBC mandatory David Benavidez by jumping the line to take the fight against Beterniev.
Canelo, 5’8″, has the skills to make it an interesting fight against Beterbiev, but he would take a lot more heavy shots than Bivol did. The Mexican star would be looking to engage a lot more than Bivol, and that’s the kind of fight that Beterbiev thrives on.
Bivol was moving and jabbing all night, which saved him from being knocked out by Beterbiev. It also cost Bivol the fight because he wasn’t showing much ambition to fight.
Bivol was trying to win a cheap decision, hoping the judges would give him the win using his hit-and-don’t-get-hit defensive strategy against Beterbiev. That wasn’t going to work because it was too negative.
Beterbiev was the one coming forward, trying to entertain the crowd and looking to score a knockout. Bivol was focusing on his amateur strategy, which he still uses.
Immediately after the fight, Ryan complained on social media about IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev’s win, saying it was a “Robbery.”
The judges gave it to Beterbiev by the scores 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 due to Bivol doing very little in the second part of the fight other than moving around the ring.
Bivol Says Canelo Hits Harder Than Beterbiev
“It’s about how strong he is, and he is not only one punch. When he’s trying to punch, it’s combinations,” said Bivol to Fight Hub TV, reflecting on the power of Beterbiev a day after his loss to him.
What Bivol didn’t say is that he was on the move most of the fight, and not allowing Beterbiev to get to him. Bivol on his bike the entire 12-round fight, making it difficult for Beterbiev to get to him long enough to set his feet.
“All the punches in the combination are heavy. I could care with Canelo. He puts all his energy and all his power into a single punch. Maybe his single punch is harder than Beterbiev because Beterbiev didn’t do like [loading up on shots]. Beterbiev was more like close and compact,” said Bivol.
