Dmitry Bivol Retains His Super-Lightweight Title

Dmitry Bivol, the current WBA light-heavyweight champion, has retained his title yet again in a Las Vegas fight over Canelo Alvarez. Bivol has held the title since 2017, successfully holding on to it for the 9th time. Canelo is the world’s undisputed super-middleweight champion. He stepped up weight for the next class, but couldn’t snatch away the title from Bivol, suffering his second defeat in 61 bouts.

The 31-year old Russian has yet to suffer defeat in his career. Before the bout, he was an underdog at PartySports, with Canelo firmly in the lead. However, Bivol’s experience proved too much for the Mexican boxer, which puts the Russian at a 20-0-0 record.

It took Dmitry Bivol 12 rounds to down Saul Canelo Alvarez. He won the fight via unanimous decision, after the judges' scorecard was 115-113 in his favour. The fact that the Mexican took the Russian for 12 rounds of fighting shows that Alvarez is not a pushover. The match also showed that there's currently no man in the world that can take down Bivol, the undisputed super light-heavyweight champion for five years.

That's a title that bears a lot of weight. Bivol is always a heavy favourite for his fights, but Alvarez was a surprise for this meeting, even after stepping out of his comfort zone. After the contest, the 'underdog' Bivol said that he's glad he defeated Alvarez and proved to himself that he's the best in his division. Alvarez is ranked as the world's best pound-for-pound male boxer, so Bivol gets a lot of credit for beating the best.

During the fight, Canelo didn’t stay idle. Bivol says that he beat up his arm, but he’s glad it wasn’t his head. In the end, the Russian earned more points than the ginger Mexican, retaining his title for the 9th time.

There was a lot of criticism pointed to the WBA after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many Russian athletes were banned from their respective competitions, and the WBA was expected to ban this fight as well. Surprisingly, it went ahead with it, deciding not to follow in the footsteps of the WBO, WBC, and IBF.

Alvarez wasn't too disappointed by the loss and congratulated the better boxer. With a rematch in mind and a possible trilogy, the Mexican will have chances to erase this loss quickly. Both fighters are open for a rematch, and it could be coming by the end of the year. A clause in the contract allows it, and Canelo is eager to activate it.

He acknowledged that on Twitter, replying to questions if he would take another shot at Bivol. Canelo said that he'd love the chance, and the contract allows it, so all we're waiting for is for the bout to be announced.

This time, Canelo will surely come better prepared. It remains to be seen if Bivol has what it takes for another successful defense, or if Canelo finally dethrones him.