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If Canelo Alvarez defeats British outsider John Ryder on Saturday night, Eddie Hearn is aware that he will not be able to persuade him out of what he wants to do next.
The Mexican legend won't be content until he has the chance to exact revenge for his defeat at the hands of Dmitry Bivol. Additionally, Alvarez has insisted that their rematch take place at the 175-pound light heavyweight limit, the same weight at which Bivol defeated him on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas by majority decision.
“Yeah, look, Canelo wants to rematch Bivol,” Hearn said during an interview that was posted this week to the YouTube channel of his promotional company, Matchroom Boxing. “I’ve said it a million times. That’s my instructions from Eddy Reynoso. They want revenge from that defeat. It’s a tough fight. It may be the wrong fight. But it doesn’t matter. He should be applauded for that. You know, most people would say, ‘No, don’t fight Dmitry Bivol.’ He wants the opportunity to rematch. But we’ll see what Saturday brings.”
In their 12-round contest for Alvarez's IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight crowns at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico, just outside of Alvarez's hometown of Guadalajara, Alvarez is at least a 16-1 favourite to overcome London's Ryder. The former WBA light heavyweight champion from Russia, Bivol, has indicated a desire to fight Alvarez at super middleweight (168 pounds), but Alvarez is determined about boxing Bivol at light heavyweight once more.
“Canelo wants the same terms as last time,” Hearn explained. “Canelo wants the fight on the terms that he got beat on. And Dmitry would quite like it at 168, to try and win the undisputed. But Dmitry’s gonna have to drain himself down to 168. If Canelo wins, he’s not gonna get the, what he feels is the, you know, the rewards from the public, from the people, from the pundits.
“He wants to do the impossible, in some people’s eyes, which is to beat Dmitry at 175. It’s a bit crazy, but that’s Canelo Alvarez. He wants the biggest challenges. You know, he doesn’t want to say, ‘I beat Dmitry Bivol because I brought him down to 168.’ He wants to beat him on all the terms that he lost last time.”
Bivol beat Alvarez, who was a 4-1 favorite, convincingly. Judges Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld all scored Bivol a 115-113 winner, but even Alvarez acknowledged his definitive defeat afterward.
Alvarez responded to his first defeat in 8½ years by thoroughly beating rival Gennadiy Golovkin in their third fight. He out-pointed Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 on September 17 at T-Mobile Arena.
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