Dmitry Bivol has had a pop at old foe Canelo Alvarez this week saying he’s used the 175lb weight limit as an excuse for his defeat at the hands of the Russian in May.
Speaking at the Regis Prograis vs Jose Zepeda fight on Saturday night, Bivol questioned whether the Mexican really wanted a rematch, claiming there were already ample opportunities for a second fight to be arranged.
The light heavyweight champion went onto say that he would be happy for a rematch to take place at Canelo’s more natural weight of 168lbs – so there would be no more excuses if the he were to be successful once again.
“Canelo had the option for a rematch – but he didn’t use it. Now he’s going to fight again against someone else. I don’t know if he wants to fight me or not.
I’m not ready to just wait for him. I have my own things to do. If he wants to fight me, he could fight me. But he could have done it before, and he could make it happen in May.
Why not make it happen at 168? If it does happen there, then there are no excuses for him anymore. He said it’s not his weight class, then he said he didn’t get a good training camp. If it’s at 168, no excuses.
Bivol came out a relatively comfortable winner when the pair faced earlier this year, being awarded a unanimous decision by the judges at the T-Mobile Arena.”
Having built on that win with another impressive performance against Canelo’s countryman Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago, many pundits believe Bivol is favourite to be crowned fighter of the year.