By Sam Volz: Erislandy Lara says Dmitry Bivol shouldn’t take the risk of facing Canelo Alvarez a second time because there’s too much risk of him being “gypped” in the rematch.
Canelo, 31, has a rematch clause in his contract for his fight with Bivol, and he’s expected to decide by next week whether he’ll execute, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
To be sure, it wouldn’t be a total shock if Canelo decides to take on Gennadiy Golovkin in September instead of facing Bivol in the immediate rematch.
If Canelo does trigger the rematch with Bivol, he may bring the second fight back to the same venue at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Canelo had good luck for the most part when fighting at the arena when it came to the scoring.
The 115-113, 115-113, and 115-113 scores the judges handed down for the Canelo vs. Bivol fight seemed bizarre, given that the fight appeared to be a 10-2, 11-1 affair, and not a razor-close 7-5 match.
WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) has already expressed interest in moving on to face the Artur Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr. winner for the 175-lb undisputed championship next.
Lara, who was on the receiving end of a controversial 12-round split decision against Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs), is still bitter about his loss in 2014.
Despite asking for a rematch with Canelo, Lara was turned down by the superstar and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions.
Lara was told to get in the back of the line and was never given a second shot at Canelo despite many boxing fans believing he’d done more than even to rate the win.
“I don’t think much about it. It was clear as day in front of all his fans that Bivol dominated him and beat him. Everyone can see it,” said Erislandy Lara to Fight Hub TV when asked to react to Dmitry Bivol’s win over Canelo Alvarez.
“No, I felt like I won the fight. You just move on,” said Lara when asked if he feels uncomfortable still about his questionable loss to Canelo in 2014. “We asked for the rematch, but they said nothing. Everyone knows I won that fight.
“He [Canelo] has a really smart, intelligent team, and they know what they’re doing. More than likely, he will try and get the rematch,” said Lara about Canelo likely to force the second fight with Bivol.
“If I were Bivol, I wouldn’t give Canelo the rematch. Why take the risk of getting gypped. He already beat him, so there’s no need for it if I was on Bivol’s side,” said Lara.
“Bivol said, ‘I’m not 100% sure I can make 168. Maybe, I’m not sure,” said AK to the DAZN Boxing Show when asked if he could come down to 168 for the rematch with Canelo.
“I don’t think Canelo would want that fight at 168 because he lost at 175. He will want the same conditions in the rematch,” said Hearn.
