Hearn To Our Dan Rafael On Canelo- “Completely Outside Comfort Zone”
Coming up on Saturday night in Las Vegas, future hall of famer Canelo Alvarez looks to become a world light heavyweight champ, again, when he challenges WBA champ Dimitry Bivol.
And on Wednesday night, our Dan Rafael had a chance to speak with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn about the bout that he helped make a reality. And, in this segment of their conversation, Hearn says that Canelo, while arguably the top fighter in the world, will be in store for a real challenge.
Hear his comments to Dan, as part of “Fight Freaks Unite” by clicking play below,
“I actually think this is going to be one of the toughest fights of his career, because I think that he’s completely outside of his comfort zone in terms of weight,” Hearn told Rafael. “I think that Dimitry Bivol is a guy that is completely fresh, has no damage, has great feet, never had a tough fight. But, he’s gonna have to be a pound for pound great to beat Canelo Alvarez.”
Bivol will make the latest defense of his title at the T-Mobile Arena on the Vegas strip. The 31 year old Russian is 19-0 and has made six defenses of his WBA 175 lb. title. His last bout was in December and a lackluster decision win over fellow Russian Umar Salamov for Matchroom Boxing. And, that relationship led him to the opportunity to with Alvarez.
This after Canelo, 57-1-2, 39 KOs, attained Undisputed status at 168 lb. by fighting Premier Boxing Champions fighter Caleb Plant on a Showtime PPV last November and won by TKO. However, that was only a “one-off” bout with PBC making Alvarez free to sign a multi-fight deal with Matchroom and the DAZN streaming service and on PPV.
And, Hearn seized on the opportunity to get back into business with Alvarez after he promoted Canelo’s bouts with starting December 2020 wtih Callum Smith, and continuing in early 2021 with Avni Yildirim and Billy Joe Saunders.
Hear the full conversation with Dan and Eddie Hearn on our Friday “Big Fight Weekend Preview” podcast that will be out Friday afternoon.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
