Dmitry Bivol’s popularity will go through the roof if he prevails in his fight against Artur Beterbiev on October 12. Bivol has more to gain if he wins, as Canelo Alvarez says he is interested in fighting him next May, but not Beterbiev.
Canelo no longer had marketable options to fight at 168, unlike Terence Crawford, who would move up the weight class for the payday. No one believes Crawford will stand any chance. This is just a money fight for Crawford and the promoters who would stage it if Canelo agreed.
If Canelo stays at 168 for his next fight in May, these are his options if he chooses not to fight Crawford:
– Christian Mbilli
– Diego Pacheco
– Caleb Plant
– Trevor McCumby
– Jermall Charlo
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) and IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) fight on ESPN+ in Riyadh.
It will take a lot for Bivol to defeat Beterbiev because he knows how to deal with shifts. Bivol is a combination puncher, and those types fare poorly against Beterbiev.
“If Bivol beats Beterbiev, it’s going to be a great fight because it’s almost impossible to be in a bad fight with Artur Beterbiev,” Chris Mannix said on his podcast about the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitri Bivol fight on October 12.
“Either Bivol will stop Beterbiev in that fight, or he will have to dig deep to win a decision. So, he will have some momentum. Not only will he have all the belts at 175, but he’ll have the momentum coming off of a tremendous performance that will have a lot of people watching,” Mannix continued about the Bivol-Beterbiev fight.
Bivol’s stock would rise from a win over Beterbiev, making a rematch between him and Canelo huge with fans. Of course, if Beterbiev wins, Canelo will have to come up with other plans because he has no interest in fighting him. This is a dangerous fight for Canelo, and there wouldn’t be the revenge angle that there would be if he fought Bivol.
If Canelo also loses to Beterbiev, it will likely be a bad knockout, and then he will have another loss to avenge on top of the Bivol loss.
“A lot of people will see on social media, and it’s a refusal that he will also benefit from. If Bivol wins, I think it’s going to be Bivol (that Canelo Alvarez fights next May).
“Places are not relevant, but calling yourself undisputed in another weight class (175) or having a chance to do so. I think it matters to Canelo, and I think he’ll push for that fight to happen. If he (Bivol) loses (to Beterbiev), it has to be Terence Crawford, but how is that fight made because it’s going to cost $100 million to get them both in the ring?”
The fight between Canelo and Crawford will only happen if Turki Alashikh wants it so badly because Canelo is indifferent to fighting Crawford. He sees it as a no-win fight because he won’t get credit if he wins. No matter how good Canelo looks, fans will criticize him afterward.
Crawford will be the only one to come out on top in that battle. He will make his biggest payday and will have an excuse to tell fans if he loses.
All Crawford has to do is go the distance of 12 rounds or be competitive, and that would be a moral victory. It would be just like Edgar Berlanga, who was praised for going the full 12 rounds against Canelo, even though he lost every round. Despite the victory over Canelo, he did not receive much appreciation from fans. Berlanga is the one who compliments fans, and he only came to survive. Crawford can do the same, and he will be knighted afterwards for his bravery. I
“Does Turki Alalshikh have the appetite to make that fight happen after Crawford was in a fight that wasn’t particularly entertaining (against Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3)? If Crawford had stopped Madrimov in the fifth round, I think it would have built the buzz for a Canelo fight,” Mannix said.
Crawford’s performance against Madrimov on August 3 was underwhelming and one of the least entertaining efforts on the entire card. In that fight, Crawford was neither known nor loved by casual boxing fans. He has only been involved in one marketable fight in his entire career, and that was against Errol Spence last year.
The PPV success for that fight was due to Spence. Crawford just came along for the ride, contributing very little to that fight in terms of PPV buys. Casual fans don’t know who Crawford is, and they won’t be thrilled about Canelo picking him. They would rather see Canelo fight David Benavidez and many other fighters than they would Crawford.
“But as it stands, Crawford comes away with kind of a so-so, pretty close win. I wonder if that makes Turki Alalshikh say, ‘I’ll pay for this fight, but I’m not going to be super big for this fight.
“I might have hit it low because Canelo has made it clear that if this fight happens, it’s going to happen on his terms, and you’re going to have to give him a big pocket,” about likely costing Turki more than $100 million to make the Canelo-Crawford fight because Canelo will want $100 million+ for him to agree to fight Crawford.
Canelo has already said he wants $150 million, and even if he’s willing to take less, it would still likely be in the $100 million range. With Crawford likely wanting big money and his last fight against Israil Madrimov reportedly bringing in poor PPV numbers, it doesn’t sound realistic that a Canelo match could happen.
