Dmitry Bivol’s popularity will go through the roof if he is victorious in his fight against Artur Beterbiev on October 12th. Bivol has more to gain if he wins because Canelo Alvarez says he is interested in fighting next in May, but not with Beterbiev.
Canelo ran out of marketable options to fight at 168 other than Terence Crawford, who would have to move up the weight class for payday. No one believed that Crawford would have a chance. This is just a money fight for Crawford and the promoters who will stage it if Canelo agrees.
If Canelo stays at 168 for his next fight in May, these will be his options if he chooses not to fight Crawford:
– Christian Mbilli
– Diego Pacheco
– Caleb Plant
– Trevor McCumby
– Jermall Charlo
WBA lightweight 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 the moves. Bivol is a combo puncher, and those guys hurt against Beterbiev.
“If Bivol beats Beterbiev, it will be a great fight because it’s almost impossible to be in a bad fight with Artur Beterbiev,” said Chris Mannix on his podcast on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight on October 12.
“Either Bivol is going to stop Beterbiev in that fight, or he’s going to have to dig deep to win a decision. So, he’s going to have some momentum. Not only will he have all the belts at 175, but he’s going to have momentum coming off a tremendous performance that a lot of people I would have watched it,” Mannix continued about the Bivol-Beterbiev fight.
Bivol’s stock will rise from a victory over Beterbiev, making a rematch between him and Canelo huge with the fans. Of course, if Beterbiev wins, Canelo will have to come up with other plans because he is not interested in fighting. It’s a dangerous fight for Canelo, and there wouldn’t be the revenge angle like if he were fighting Bivol.
If Canelo loses to Beterbiev as well, it will likely be a bad knock-out, and then he will have another loss to avenge the Bivol defeat.
“A lot of people will see it on social media, and this is a rebound that he will benefit from as well. If Bivol wins, I think it will be Bivol (who Canelo Alvarez beats next May).
“The belts are not relevant, but to call him undisputed in another weight class (175) or have the chance to do it. I think this matters to Canelo, and I think he will push for the fight to take place. If’ he (Bivol) loses (to Beterbiev), it should be Terence Crawford, but how does this fight because it will cost $100 million to put both of them in the ring at least”.
The fight between Canelo and Crawford will only happen if Turki Alalashikh wants it bad enough because Canelo is indifferent to fighting Crawford. He sees it as a no-win fight because he will get no credit if he wins. No matter how good Canelo looks, the fans will criticize him later.
Crawford will be the only one to come out ahead in that fight. He’ll get his biggest payday and he’ll have an excuse to tell the fans he’s losing.
All Crawford has to do is go the distance 12 times or be competitive, and it would be a moral victory. He would be like Edgar Berlanga, who was praised for going the full 12 rounds against Canelo, even though he lost every round. Despite Canelo’s victory, he did not receive much appreciation from the fans. Berlanga is the one that the fans compliment, and he came only to survive. Crawford could do the same, and would have been knighted later for his valor. I
“Does Turki Alalshikh have the appetite to make this fight happen after Crawford was in a fight that wasn’t particularly fun (against Israil Madrimov on August 3)? If Crawford had stopped Madrimov in the fifth round, I think he would have developed the buzz for a Canelo fight,” Mannix said.
Crawford’s performance against Madrimov on August 3rd was disappointing and one of the least entertaining efforts on the entire card. Going into that fight, Crawford was not known or liked by casual boxing fans. He was only involved in one marketable fight 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, and contributed very little to that fight in terms of PPV buys. Casual fans don’t know who Crawford is, and they won’t be excited about Canelo picking him. They would rather see Canelo fight David Benavidez and many other fighters than they would Crawford.
“But the way it is, Crawford walks away with a pretty close sort of win. I wonder if it makes Turki Alalshikh say, ‘I’m going to pay for this fight, but I’m not going super big for this fight.’
“It might have been overlooked because Canelo has made it clear that if this fight happens, it’s going to happen on his terms, and you’re going to show up with a big bag,” about probably costing more. of $100 million for Turki to do 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 while he’s willing to take less, it could still be in the $100M range. With Crawford likely wanting to make money and his last fight against Israil Madrimov bringing in poor PPV numbers, it doesn’t seem realistic that a Canelo match can happen.
