Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez still seeks revenge against Dmitry Bivol

Despite claiming earlier in the week that he could have beaten Benavidez on the same night as the Munguia fight, Alvarez remained non-committal about fighting the man dubbed “The Mexican Monster.”

“I don’t know right now. I’m going to rest and enjoy my family,” Alvarez said following his win as boos rained down from the crowd.

However, Canelo did endorse another crack at Dmitry Bivol, who handed him his second career defeat in a rout two years ago. That was Alvarez’s second fight at 175 pounds and his first since knocking out Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO strap in November 2019. Afterward, he returned to 168 pounds and defeated Gennadiy Golovkin to close out their storied rivalry. When asked, “Is there any interest in a revenge bout with Dmitry Bivol?” Alvarez responded candidly, “Yeah. Always.”

Is Canelo-Bivol II A Good Idea?

Logically, it’s not exactly a good idea. However, what we think is logical doesn’t matter in most cases. For example, some people believed that Alvarez shouldn’t have fought Bivol in the first place because it was a stylistically challenging fight. Canelo didn’t care; he dared to be greater than he already was and lost. Teofimo Lopez heard the critics as well, saying that he was mentally fragile and no longer an elite fighter. Then he goes out and dominates the former undisputed titlist in Josh Taylor. Again, what we think should and will happen doesn’t always occur.

Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs), who holds the WBA light heavyweight title, wants to be undisputed. He has said that for years. Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) holds the other pie slices, with the WBC, WBO, and IBF titles. The two warriors were set to battle for the undisputed championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia until Beterbiev suffered a torn meniscus in training. As a result, Bivol is now reportedly set to face unbeaten Malik Zinad.

Let’s be honest. It’s a layup for Bivol, and it puts him in an advantageous position going into what will presumably be the undisputed showdown against the 39-year-old Beterbiev, who suffers injuries rather consistently. This latest setback is expected to keep the knockout artist on the bench until at least September.

But what if Beterbiev gets injured again? Given his recent track record, it has to be considered a legitimate possibility. As competitive as Bivol is, surely he doesn’t want another stay-busy fight. What if another Canelo payday were to sneak their way into the fray? Is it a reach? Probably. Is there a more logical fight? Yes.

Turki Alalshikh Wants Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford

Turki Alalshikh , the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, controls the biggest purse offers in boxing. In December or January, Alalshikh will look to stage a showdown between Canelo and Terence Crawford, who will move up to 154 pounds on August 3 to challenge WBA world champion Israil Madrimov in an attempt to win a world title in a fourth weight class.

Just because Turki wants the fight doesn’t mean Canelo will take it. Of course, money talks but let’s remember something Canelo said about Bivol wishing to come down from 175 to 168 pounds to challenge him for the undisputed belts.

“Everyone will start f—ing talking,” Alvarez said. “Everything is going to f—ing start saying, ‘Oh, but he brought him down [in weight]. That’s why [Bivol] lost. But they didn’t say anything when I went up [in weight]. But it’s the same thing.”

If Alvarez applies that same logic, he wouldn’t want to face Crawford because it’s a lose-lose situation. If Canelo wins, it’ll be because Crawford was too small, and if he somehow were to lose, knowing how obnoxious boxing fans can be, they’ll dump on Canelo’s entire legacy. If you’re Alvarez, no amount of money is worth the risk of all those years of blood, sweat, and tears going to waste unless it’s between $150-$200 million, perhaps. That could change everything.

In all honesty, Alvarez is running out of options. If he plans to remain the face of the sport, he’ll have to fight Benavidez, a former two-time WBC super middleweight world champion, at some point but it also seems that Alvarez is fixated on revenge.

He calls the shots, whether you like it or not.