LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez’s admirable ambition caught up with him Saturday night.
Undefeated Dmitry Bivol beat boxing’s former pound-for-pound king in Alvarez’s attempt to become a two-time light heavyweight champion. Alvarez entered the ring at T-Mobile Arena as more than a 5-1 favorite, according to MGM Grand’s sportsbook, but Bivol, a career-long light heavyweight, had offensive and defensive answers for the four-division champion throughout their 12-round, 175-pound title fight and won a unanimous decision.
Bivol’s determination and skill seemed to frustrate Alvarez at times and the hard-hitting Mexican superstar couldn’t hurt an opponent who owned a four-inch height advantage and seemingly out-weighed the undisputed super middleweight champion on fight night. Judges Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld scored the fight exactly the same, 115-113, for Bivol.
“I proved myself today,” Bivol told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in the ring. “I’m the best in my [division]. I keep this belt. And thank you [to Canelo]. And sorry I broke your plans with Gennadiy Golovkin. Thank you to Canelo and his team. He’s a great champion.”
The 31-year-old Alvarez was denied in his bid to become a two-time light heavyweight champion and lost for the first time in more than 8½ years. Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) hadn’t been defeated before Bivol beat him since undefeated Floyd Mayweather, then boxing’s pound-for-pound king, out-boxed Alvarez and won a majority decision in their 12-round junior middleweight title fight in September 2013 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“He’s a great champion,” Alvarez told Mannix, according to a translator. “Sometimes in boxing, you win and you lose. I’m not gonna make excuses. I lost today and he won.”
Guadalajara’s Alvarez has a rematch clause in his contract that he said he’ll exercise for an immediate second fight with Bivol. He tentatively was scheduled to fight nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin a third time in a super middleweight title fight September 17 at a venue to be determined, but that plan apparently has changed after Alvarez’s upset defeat.
“Of course I do,” Alvarez told Mannix when asked if he wanted a rematch. “This can’t end like this.”
Russia’s Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) made an 11th defense of some version of the WBA light heavyweight title. The 31-year-old Bivol also established himself as an elite-level boxer after several years of beating mostly big underdogs by unanimous decision in optional title defenses.
According to CompuBox’s unofficial statistics, Bivol beat Alvarez even more definitively than the scorecards indicated.
CompuBox credited Bivol for landing 68 more punches than Alvarez (152-of-710 to 84-of-495). He landed more power punches (106-of-292 to 74-of-266) and more jabs (46-of-418 to 10-of-229).
Nevertheless, Bivol needed to win the 12th round on two of the three scorecards to avoid a draw. Cheatham, Moretti and Weisfeld all had Bivol in front by only one point, 105-104, entering the final round.
Alvarez should've needed a knockout to win when the final round began, but he couldn’t muster much offense against an opponent that simply was better than him on this night. Alvarez attacked Bivol at the start of the 12th round, but Bivol again unloaded combinations that made Alvarez back away from him.
Bivol cracked Alvarez with a flush left hook when there was about 1:15 to go in the 11th round. They became entangled a few seconds later and Alvarez lifted Bivol into the air, which caused a brief break in the action.
Bivol landed in combination again with just under two minutes to go in the 10th round, which forced Alvarez to move away from him. Alvarez appeared mentally and physically fatigued when he returned to his corner following the 10th round, another successful three-minute period for Bivol.
An assertive Bivol backed Alvarez into the ropes and unloaded power punches just after the midway point of the ninth round. Alvarez mounted some offense later in the ninth round, which drew a loud reaction from his adoring crowd, but Bivol didn’t appear affected by the right hand Alvarez landed as Bivol tried to move away from him.
Alvarez landed a right hand, but Bivol countered with a left-right combination barely a minute into the eighth round. Bivol countered Alvarez with another right hand after Alvarez landed one late in the eighth round.
Alvarez was aggressive at times in the seventh round, but Bivol consistently fired back in combination, which prevented Alvarez from gaining momentum. Backed against the ropes at one point in the seventh round, Bivol blasted Alvarez with a counter left hook in as well.
Bivol countered Alvarez with a left hook with 1:15 to go in the sixth round. With Alvarez backed against the ropes, Bivol landed two left-right combinations within a 10-second span late in the sixth round.
A right-left-right combination by Bivol got the attention of Alvarez and the crowd just after the midway mark of the fifth round. Bivol continued to unload on Alvarez, which made Alvarez wave him forward.
Bivol wouldn’t oblige, so Alvarez moved toward him and tried to land power shots of his own.
Bivol landed a right hand and then unloaded a combination about a minute into the fourth round. Alvarez remained on the ropes for a long stretch later in the fourth round, but Bivol couldn’t capitalize.
Alvarez blasted Bivol with a right uppercut as they neared the end of the fourth round.
A right-left combination by Bivol moved Alvarez into the ropes, near his corner, about 45 seconds into the third round. Bivol then tried to keep the fight in the center of the ring, where he could be more effective.
Alvarez moved Bivol toward the ropes again, though, and caught Bivol with a flush left hook that got his attention. Bivol came back toward the end of the third round, however, with a right hand that caught Alvarez when his back was to the ropes.
Mora warned Alvarez and Bivol for an accidental clash of heads just before the halfway point of the second round. Alvarez snuck a right hand over Bivol’s guard with just over a minute remaining in the second round.
Alvarez let his hands go at times during the first round, but Bivol kept his gloves held high and blocked a lot of those shots. Bivol mostly pawed with his jab in those opening three minutes, until he unloaded a combination on Alvarez with just over 20 seconds to go in the first round.
Bivol’s crisp combination punching became a theme over the course of the ensuing 11 rounds, which led to the loss Alvarez accepted.
“He’s a really good fighter,” Alvarez said. “He’s a fighter that comes in and goes out. I also felt his power. I think it was a good fight. You know, it was a good victory for him.”
Alvarez didn’t blame his loss on moving back up from the 168-pound division, in which he was dominant, to 175 pounds.
“I did feel his power,” Alvarez said, “but, you know, no excuses. I think that’s what happens in the sport in boxing – you win or lose. That’s the sport and that’s what happened.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
