Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez has made his mind up as to what weight he’ll rematch Dmitry Bivol at, and has sent a warning to the Russian.
Álvarez lost to Bivol at light heavyweight back in May last year and has been focused on avenging the defeat ever since.
After the Bivol bout, Canelo went on to beat GGG by unanimous decision in their trilogy fight, but many pundits felt the undisputed super middleweight champion should have stopped the ageing Golovkin.
Canelo faces John Ryder next in a mandatory defence in his native Mexico on May 6, in what most see as tune-up for Bivol in September.
There had been rumours that the Mexican was open to the rematch at 168lbs, instead of the 175lbs they originally fought at, but Canelo has now ruled that out.
“It’s at the same weight [175lbs].
If I brought him down everyone would start f**king talking. Everyone is going to start f**king saying, ‘oh, but he brought him down (in weight), that’s why he lost’, but they didn’t say anything when I went up in weight, but it’s the same thing.”
Asked, if he beats Bivol would he stay at light heavyweight, Canelo replied ‘no’ then sent a warning to his future opponent.
“I just want to f**k him up.”
Although he went into their first fight as the underdog, Bivol’s performance that night and his dominant showing against Gilberto Ramírez in November has seen his stock risen sharply and would undoubtedly go into their next encounter as the favourite.
Whatever the result, it seems Canelo’s long term future is at super middleweight and the challenges don’t come any easier there, with ‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez waiting for him.