Dmitry Bivol Slams Canelo’s Treatment Of Badou Jack

Dmitry Bivol has hit out at Canelo Alvarez over his demand for a catchweight against Badou Jack. 

According to reports, the Mexican was keen on moving up to fight Jack for his WBC cruiserweight title. Such a bout would have given Canelo an opportunity to make history by becoming a five-division champion.

While that may have been the case, there was an issue with the weight class. The current cruiserweight limit is 200 lbs. This was an issue given that Canelo’s highest weight has been at light heavyweight.

Therefore, there was always going to be a compromise when it came to the weight. The Mexican suggested a catchweight at 180 lbs.

This ran into some issues, as Jack is 39 years old. Therefore, expecting him to drop down 20 lbs was not going to be realistic as he accused Canelo of ‘draining’ an old man.  

Much in the same way, Bivol became a victim of the weight game. The WBA champion was seeking to fight Canelo at 168 lbs in order to secure his undisputed super-middleweight title.

However, Alvarez made it clear that he wanted to have a rematch at 175 lbs. That ultimately led to a breakdown in talks, as Bivol has now come out to express his dissatisfaction with Canelo.

“He’s [Jack] right. What’s his weight? His weight should be 200 pounds. Why should it be less? If you want to fight for this belt, you should be more than 175 and less than 200.

“This is your limit. Why we should make [other] limits. There are no belts for this [imaginative] limit. What about Canelo? Of course, he has enough excuses to fight against guy like Badou Jack.

“But Badou Jack has power. It’s an interesting fight if it’s at 200 pounds. But if this fight is something in the middle, it’s not fair. This is what I can see.

“It’s not good. If you want to fight against a cruiserweight, you should be ready that he’s a real cruiserweight,” Bivol

Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the following points. Canelo is the A-side when it comes to most fights, given the mass revenue he can generate via the huge Mexican fan base that he commands.

That is likely to put most of his opponents on the back foot due to a lack of leverage. This has once again been seen with Canelo’s three-fight deal with the PBC, as a potential fight with Jermall Charlo would see the latter moving up to 168 after two years out of the ring. 

Not only that, but the numerous weight classes that Canelo has been linked with is something that Bivol has spoken out against. 

“To be honest, it’s interesting how they’re (Team Canelo) promoting fights, how his team is doing.

“I remember after my fight against him, there were a lot of rumors that he’s gonna fight [unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr] Usyk, that he want to fight Usyk, Usyk, Usyk. We said, ‘whoa, against Usyk?’

“Then he was fighting against [Gennadiy] ‘Triple G’ [Golovkin]. Now we were hearing that he was gonna fight Badou Jack, it’s close, it’s gonna happen. And suddenly it’s Charlo. You know, it’s good promoting,” Bivol 

Canelo may have a way of doing certain things, but up until now, it has made him the biggest star in boxing.

Although the Mexican has been accused of avoiding the big fights, his accomplishments have earned him that right. And there is no getting away from that regardless of what others may have to say about it all. 

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