Boxing

Dmitry Bivol Details Doubt About Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Fight

Dmitry Bivol expressed uncertainly about one aspect of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight.

Grant Young

Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol during Weighing Ceremony ahead of the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday, May 7, 2022.
Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol during Weighing Ceremony ahead of the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday, May 7, 2022. / IMAGO / Agencia-MexSport

Few boxers can claim they know Saul "Canelo" Alvarez better than Dmitry Bivol.

Of course, these two pound-for-pound greats faced off on May 7, 2022, in what was Canelo's opportunity to move up in weight and capture Bivol's WBA (Super) light heavyweight title after already being an undisputed super middleweight 4-division world champion.

Ultimately the fight did not go Canelo's way, as the bigger Bivol assumed control in the early rounds and never let up, eventually earning a unanimous decision win and handing Canelo the second professional loss of his career (the first since 2013, when he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr.).

Fast forward nearly three years and Bivol is a few days away from a rematch against Artur Beterbiev (who handed him his first professional loss last year) and Canelo reportedly has a fight scheduled against Terence Crawford in September 2025.

Before this highly-touted rematch against Beterbiev, Bivol spoke with talkSPORT about how he sees the Canelo vs. Crawford bout playing out.

MORE: Terence Crawford Name Drops Two Fighters Who Can Beat Gervonta Davis

"I think it will be a very nice fight," Bivol said. "It is two very different boxing styles, much like our fight, and the best in their weight classes. It is a good fight, I'm sure Canelo will be the one who is pressuring Crawford, but I think Crawford will try to keep the distance and keep changing stances.

"He's big, but I don't know [if Crawford can make weight jump], he has enough weight," Bivol continued. "But you need to get used to it and working with bigger guys. I don't know, maybe he will be able to. It is interesting for sure."

Bivol casting doubt on whether Crawford can make that jump in weight is fascinating to hear, especially because he got to experience Canelo (unsuccessfully) trying to do the same.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Boxing, Women’s Basketball, and the New York Mets for On SI. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years, and he thinks it’s time that Canelo Álvarez fights David Benavidez.