Boxing Best Bets, Odds: Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol Preview

The WBA Super light heavyweight title is on the line as one of the boxing's best pound-for-pound fighters is the betting favorite.

Saul 'Canelo' Álvarez will move up in weight once again as he takes on undefeated WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Canelo holds all four super middleweight titles, and he will attempt to capture a light heavyweight title for the second time after his 2019 knockout of Sergey Kovalev to secure the WBO title. Álvarez has since vacated that title in his pursuit of the lineal championship in the middleweight division, which he did convincingly following his eleventh round TKO of Caleb plant in November of last year. 

Card Details

Card: Canelo vs. Bivol WBA World Light-Heavyweight World Championship
Date: May 7, 2002, 8 p.m. ET
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Fights

Marc Castro (-4000) vs. Pedro Vicente (+1500)
Shakhram Giyasov (-340) vs. Christian Gomez (+270)
Montana Love (-700) vs. Gabriel Valenzuela (+500)
Zhilei Zhang (-1500) vs. Scott Alexander (+800)
Saul 'Canelo' Álvarez (-450) vs. Dmitry Bivol (+370)

Get the latest boxing odds and bets at SI Sportsbook

SI Video’s Doug Vazquez

Canelo Álvarez has already proven he can move up in weight and still be dominant with his win over Kovalev, but in my opinion, Dmitry Bivol presents different challenges for Canelo. While he has shown the knockout power known for early in his career, he has still shown dominance as he has improved his jab significantly. If Bivol can chip away at the body and work the jab, he could keep this fight close. The real question is how he will respond when Canelo moves forward and looks to exchange punches. If Bivol can withstand Canelo's power and use good technique and head movement to avoid knockout punches—maybe, just maybe—he finds a way to sneak in a punch that puts Canelo on the floor. I am not at all confident about either outcome, so I'm just going to have fun and put a small ticket on a Bivol KO

BET: Bivol win via KO at +750

Bivol vs. Álvarez betting odds

SI Host Robin Lundberg

There are three boxers who I currently have on a different level than anyone else: Tyson Fury, Terence Crawford, and of course, Canelo Álvarez. So it shouldn't be shocking to see me go with Saul over Dmitry Bivol. I expect Canelo to size up Bivol and stop him due to accumulated damage short of the distance.

BET: Canelo via KO +260