LAS VEGAS –Canelo Alvarez said he was facing a challenge. He wasn’t kidding. He just didn’t know just how much of a challenge it would be.
Turns out, Dmitry Bivol was a bigger challenger than even Canelo, boxing’s biggest star.
Bivol took him down Saturday, upsetting Mexico’s greatest current champion on a night when his nation celebrated Cinco de Mayo.
It was a stunner, historic, but not the kind of history Canelo has said he is pursuing. Bivol was supposed to be a step in his path to all-time recognition. But that journey was interrupted.
The bigger Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs), still the World Boxing Association’s light-heavyweight champion, employed all of his measurable advantages and many that can’t be measured, scoring a unanimous decision – 115-113 on all three cards – over the favored Canelo (57-2-2, 39).
“I prove today that I’m the best,’’ Bivol said to his promoter and the stunned crowd at T-Mobile Arena after the pay-per-view/DAZN bout. “Thank you, Eddie Hearn, Sorry, I break your plans for Gennadiy Golovkin, maybe.’’
On the Canelo blueprint, the bout versus Bivol was a good payday en route to a third fight against Golovkin.
A third bout in a contentious middleweight rivalry was seen as a way for Canelo to have the final say-so. It would allow him to move on from the debate about GGG, who had a draw and a decision loss to Canelo
But maybe Canelo moved a little but too fast and too far up the scale. He unified the super-middleweight title. Light heavyweight was next. But Bivol was there, to remind him that there’s a reason for weight classes.
Canelo, who had promised victory, offered no excuses.
“I lost tonight and he won,’’ Canelo said.
He also said he wanted a rematch. He was asked whether he would exercise the rematch clause in his contract with Bivol
“Si,’’ he said to the Mexican crowd.
Canelo has proven he learns from defeat. He learned a lot after his one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. After this one – only his second defeat, he faced many more adjustments against a skilled, poised Bivol. The Russian doesn’t get rattled.
No Russian anthem was played, no Russian flag was waved, when Bivol made his entrance. The World Boxing Association ruled against both weeks before the fight in response to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.
Initially, the WBA’s ruling was called cosmetic. It’s a boxing acronym after all. It’s more about sanctioning fees than ethics. On fight night, however, the ban felt like the proper move. It fit the time. And the man.
Bivol, the WBA’s champion, has family in Saint Petersburg. He has never taken a position on his home country’s attack on a neighboring country. Neutrality has been hard to maintain. But he has remained quiet about his homeland. He delivers punches. Not opinions.
The Russian flag and anthem might have put further pressure on Bivol in an arena already awash in Mexican flags and symbols. It was Cinco de Mayo, a party and a celebration of Mexican pride. Bivol was the pinata at a roaring fiesta.
But the designated pinata contained surprises. Bivol was more than just a party favor. He had some weapons of his own.
In an early surprise, Canelo started faster than expected. He’s known for a measured pace in the first few rounds. Against Bivol, however, he didn’t hesitate.
The opening bell still echoed through the jammed area when he began to move forward, ever forward. Perhaps, he was buoyed by the crowd, his crowd. Perhaps, he already knew that Bivol couldn’t hurt him. Perhaps, Canelo was anxious to get the job done and join the party.
Whatever the reason, the Canelo attack got underway without hesitation. The thud from his lethal body punches could be heard in the upper-reaches of T-Mobile. The real surprise was coming from Bivol, who over the first four rounds would not give an inch.
Canelo backed up and into the ropes repeatedly. But Bivol responded, coming back behind his long jab. Midway in the third round, the Russian appeared to land a left solid enough to get Canelo’s attention.
In the fourth and again in the fifth, Canelo began to show signs of fatigue. He breathed heavily through an open mouth. The momentum – slowly, surely and inevitably – had begun to switch. It belonged to Bivol.
In the end, so did the victory and the title.
Restless crowd boos Montana Love decision over Gabriel Gollaz
It was an awkward fight between a lefthander, Montana Love, and an orthodox Gabriel Gollaz. A couple of early knockdowns were the result.
In the first round, Love,(18-0-1, 9 KOs) of Cleveland, landed a glancing blow that knocked Gollaz off balance. Then, he appeared to slip. Referee Tony Weeks ruled it a knockdown.
In the second, Gollaz (25-3-1 15 KOs) , of Mexico, threw a quick counter left. It, too, appeared to be a glancing blow off the top of Love’s. But it was enough for Love to lose his balance. He touched the canvas. It was a knockdown. He got up , looking almost embarrassed.
For the next several rounds, neither fighter knew what to do. It left the crowd unhappy. Restless fans knew what to do. There was no love for Montana. None for Gollaz either. Fans jeered, whistled and booed. Love came into the ring to a rapper who carried his pet dog. Even the dog must have whined.
In the end, Love won a unanimous decision. The crow cheered. But it was happy only because it was over.
The only good news was that the main event, Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol, was next.
Shakhram Giyasov wins unanimous decision
Shakhram Giyasov, an Olympic silver medalist and a welterweight from Uzbekistan, had enough power and poise to emerge from a sloppy fight with a unanimous decision over Mexican Christian Gomez.
It wasn’t close on the scorecards. Giyasov (13-0, 9 KOs) made sure of it with power. He knocked down Gomez (22-3-1, 20 KOs) three times. Two — one in the fourth and again the 10th were — clear. One in seventh, however, appeared to be the result more of a trip than a punch.
Marc Castro wins one-sided decision
Lightweight prospect Marc Castro (7-0, 5 KOs), of Fresno CA, got in some work, dominating Pedro Vicente (7-5-1, 2 KOs).
Vicente, of Puerto Rico, never had a chance. Never won a round either. Castro scored a six-round shutout, 60-54 on all three cards.
Zhang Zhilei scores first-round KO
He was a late stand-in. He didn’t stand for long.
Scott Alexander, a substitute for Croatian Filip Hrgovic, was gone within a minute, thanks to a straight left from Zhang Zhilei, perhaps the biggest athlete from China since Yao Ming.
Zhilei (24-0-1, 19 KOs) might not have the same height as Ming, a former Houston Rocket center. But he’s got a slam dunk for a left hand. He took one step back, threw it on a straight line and it landed, dropping Alexander (16-5-2, 8 KOs) flat onto his back in the first bout in the pay-per-view telecast of the Canelo-Bivol card. It was over at 54 seconds of the opening round
Joselito Velazquez unleashes deadly combo for TKO of Soto
Joselito Velazquez had power. He added precision. It was deadly.
Velazquez (15-0-1, 10 KOs, a Mexican flyweight, blew out Jose Soto with the combination, stopping the Colombian (15-2, 6 KOs) in the sixth round of the final fight before the pay-per-view telecast of the Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol card.
Velazquez landed a left, short and precise. Then, he followed up with a succession of powerful combinations. Jay Nady ended it at 1:06 of the sixth
Aaron Silva scores powerful TKO
Superman is stitched across the back of Aaron Silva’s trunks. The Mexican super-middleweight lived up to the nickname. Alexis Espino had no chance against his sustained power in the third fight on the Canelo-Alvarez undercard.
Silva (10-0, 7 KOs) stunned Espino (9-1-1, 6 KOs) with a huge right in the fourth and then poured it on, driving Espino into the ropes and leaving him defenseless. Kenny Bayless stopped it at 1:17 of the round.
Abduraimov scores three knockdowns for second-round stoppage
Elnur Abduraimov (9-0, 8 KOs), a powerful junior-bantamweight from Uzbekistan, appeared to be too much Manuel Correa. Appearances quickly turned real.
Correa (11-1, 7 KOs) was finished within two rounds of the second bout on a card featuring Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol. Abduraimov overwhelmed the Cuban, knocking him down three times in bout stopped at 2:43 of the second.
First Bell: Canelo-Bivol show opens with a split decision
Empty seats, lots of echoes.
That’s how the show started Saturday, about seven hours before Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol were scheduled to fight for a light-heavyweight title at T-Mobile Arena in a DAZN pay-per-view bout.
There was nothing definitive about the opener. The matinee ended in a split decision. Mexican junior-welterweight Fernando Molina (8-0, 3 KOs) prevailed,mostly because of an edge in power. He rocked Ricardo Valdovinos (8-2, 5 KOs), of San Diego, just enough to win on two of the three score cards.