Canelo Alvarez has shut down any chances of a rematch with Dmitry Bivol by confirming he had done everything in his power to make it happen.
Talks over a rematch began in the aftermath of Alvarez’s loss to Bivol via a unanimous decision. The Mexican was dominated in a fight where he offered very little to trouble Bivol.
Following the fight, the Mexican underwent surgery on his wrist as there were suggestions that he was compromised during the fight. That narrative led to calls for a rematch.
But disagreements over the weight class could not be resolved. Bivol wanted the rematch at 168 pounds for the chance to fight for all of Canelo’s belts.
Meanwhile, the latter wanted to avenge his loss at 175 so there would be no excuses over Bivol being ‘weight-drained.’ But now Canelo has moved on.
Canelo On Bivol
“Look, [Bivol] asked and tried to make the negotiations hard, right, and tried to make his own decision and everything. And I tried my best. Right now I am focused 100% on my fight with Jermell Charlo, and working with PBC right now as is my focus. I’m going to try my best [to stop Charlo],” Canelo said
However, Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov has blamed Canelo for the failure to get the fight made. He highlighted Alvarez’s tendency to use Bivol’s name in order to stay relevant, while questioning the nature of intentions as the Mexican moved on from the negotiations.
Kornilov On Canelo
“Canelo mentioned Dmitry’s name on many occasions as the most prioritized opponent, and instead he fought with others like Gennadiy Golovkin, John Ryder. He constantly mentioned that he wanted to take revenge. But in fact, he did not want it: politically and from a sporting point of view. He’s not interested [in a second fight].
“Canelo lost almost every round in the first fight with Bivol, he looked too insecure – and objectively I don’t see what sense he can find to do a rematch. We received nothing from him, except for the words at a press conference. We were waiting [to do the rematch],” Kornilov stated
Wilder Vs. AJ Delay
Meanwhile, Deontay Wilder could face further time out of the ring with the news that any potential fight with Anthony Joshua could be pushed back until March or April.
The ‘Bronze Bomber’ has not fought since his first-round KO over Robert Helenius in October 2022. Although that may have been the case, Wilder has been linked with Joshua for sometime.
There have been reports that Saudi Arabia is intent on holding the fight. Eddie Hearn has repeatedly confirmed that terms have been agreed verbally.
However, an official offer has not arrived leaving fans none the wiser. And now any such fight could be pushed back until the first quarter of 2024.
“There are other sites that want that fight. Only last night, we were looking at the numbers for Las Vegas. We were thinking, ‘Wow, Joshua against Wilder in Las Vegas, maybe that will be something that will be remembered for a long time. There is a chance that AJ will fight in December. If we can’t lock that in for January, maybe we’ll push it [the Deontay Wilder fight] to March or April. Maybe we’ll look at alternative venues,” Hearn
Wilder’s Future
Wilder will desperately want to remain active if he is to enter into one of his biggest fights. Negotiations with Andy Ruiz Jr. failed after the latter wanted an equal split after having been offered 70-30 by Wilder.
Although the Bronze Bomber is 36 and wants to secure the biggest paydays, the mass inactivity could harm Wilder in the long run. However, he did admit that he is targeting three more fights in what could be his retirement plan.
The former WBC heavyweight champion did not name any potential opponents, but the two biggest fights appear to be Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Outside of that, there is always a chance that Wilder does crossover into an MMA bout. He had previously mentioned the possibility of facing Francis Ngannou in the cage. So moving forward, Wilder has plenty of things to consider.
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