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Canelo v Scull: Could Canelo Alvarez really beat Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev?
The prospect of a rematch between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol is tantalising, while a fight between the Mexican and Artur Beterbiev has also been mentioned in dispatches.
Here, DAZN News assesses the likelihood of Alvarez, who returns to the ring on Saturday to fight William Scull in Riyadh live on DAZN PPV, facing either of the light heavyweight fighters further down the track.
It is an intriguing thought. Having suffered an extremely rare defeat at the hands of Dmitry Bivol three years ago, could Canelo face the same man again in a potential rematch?
In May 2022, in a fight billed Legacy is Earned, Alvarez was handed a shock points defeat when Bivol retained his WBA light-heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
Mexican boxing icon Alvarez was the undisputed world super-middleweight champion but stepped up in weight for the bout and lost for the only second time in 61 professional fights.
It was the last blemish on a legendary career which has harvested 62 victories from 66 fights and included 39 knockouts.
Revenge would certainly be sweet and there is no doubt that Alvaez has the talent and desire to beat Bivol at the second time of asking.
The Mexican has plenty on his plate this year, though, with a fight against William Scull on Saturday in Riyadh for his debut in Saudi Arabia.
Their super-middleweight clash comes amid speculation of a money-spinning mega-fight with Terence Crawford in Las Vegas in September.
Crawford is a multiple-division world champion widely regarded as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters.
DAZNAn Alvarez-Crawford showdown would be huge, yet the prospect of a rematch with Bivol – mooted for Riyadh in February 2026 – continues to linger.
When Bivol claimed victory over Alvarez with a unanimous points decision win in May 2022, all three judges scored the fight 115-113 in his favour.
After claiming the famous win, Bivol said: “I’m glad I proved myself, I’m the best in my division and I keep this belt.
“He’s a great champion, I respect him and all his team but if you don’t believe in yourself what do you do?
“You achieve nothing. I believe and my team believed in me.”
Bivol is around four inches taller than Alvarez and the Mexican recently stated that, as far as the 175-pound division goes, the one fight he would take would be a rematch with Bivol.
Speaking with The Ring, Alvarez revealed how he was fighting at “50 percent” of his ability when he lost the first fight due to an injury he was carrying with his left hand.
Ed Mulholland / Matchroom
“I hope I have the opportunity to have the rematch with Bivol, that’s the only fight at 175 I would really take but we’ll see,” said the Mexican.
“I want to tell myself ‘Hey, you learned something from that fight’, what things you don’t need to do again. I have that thing in myself which says ‘Hey, you need to show that you’re a better fighter than him’.
“I have 50 percent of my abilities right there [in 2022]. I had like one month with no sparring because of my hand [injury].”
A rematch between Alvarez and Bivol would be a huge money-spinner and remains an option for the Mexican’s four-fight Riyadh Season deal.
An Artur Beterbiev trilogy fight is another option for Bivol, who lost to his compatriot in February but beat him in their first bout last October.
Earlier this month, Bivol has relinquished his WBC light-heavyweight world title after just six weeks as undisputed champion in order to pursue a third fight against Beterbiev.
As a result of his decision, he has been forced to vacate his WBC title meaning that he is no longer the undisputed champion at 175lbs – with American David Benavidez was elevated to full champion.
Another potential blockbuster is a fight between Alvarez and Beterbiev, but that seems unlikely given recent comments by the latter.
With Alvarez having moved back down to super middleweight, Beterbiev told Boxing News: “I’m not really interested in him, because when he was the champion in my category, yes, I wanted to fight him.
“But now he doesn’t have anything in my category.”
Watch two incredible fight nights this week only on DAZN
Fight fans are in for a treat this week, with two amazing fight exclusively DAZN PPV.
- May 2: Ryan Garcia vs Rolly Romero; Devin Haney vs Jose Ramirez; Teofimo Lopez vs Arnold Barboza Jr.
- May 3: Canelo Alvarez vs William Scull
Fight fans can purchase either these fight nights individually for $59.99 US; £/€21.99 UK/IRE; $24.99 ROW per PPV or take advantage of the DAZN Knockout Weekend Bundle where both fight cards can be purchased for $90 US; £34.99 UK and €34.99 Europe.
