Carl Froch has had his say on where Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez goes after his decision victory over John Ryder in Mexico.
The undisputed super middleweight champion marked his homecoming with a comprehensive win over the distance against a wildly brave Ryder, who survived a broken nose in the second and a knockdown in the fifth to see the final bell.
Speaking to Sporting Post, Froch said that next up ‘has to be’ a rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol – but believes Canelo doesn’t fancy it despite the constant call outs.
“It has to be Bivol but it looks like he’s swerving it. Eddie Hearn loves a rematch but has been a bit quiet around it. But Bivol is who he should fight next. Why is it not happening?
I think Bivol wins if it happens when you look at the last time they fought. Bivol was really busy, fresh, strong and powerful. He’s a natural light-heavyweight.
I remember watching him in Monaco early in his career, I remember thinking wow he’s one to swerve. He’s dangerous. When the Canelo fight was made I thought, he fought Kovalev at light-heavyweight, but this fight he’s going to struggle. And he got hammered.”
‘The Cobra’ – who was champion in the same division Canelo is now – believes the Mexican is, in general, ‘past his best.’
If true, that won’t bode well against Bivol for a second time, who has proved to be an elite-operator with very few, if any, visible flaws in the ring.
His efforts against Canelo and Gilberto Ramirez in 2022 earned him the Fighter of the Year tag from many outlets, and he can follow that up with a second victory in the rivalry.
Despite Canelo calling for the fight after the Ryder victory, it’s not nailed on to happen. There’s a fundamental disagreement about the fight weight, with Canelo keen to keep it at 175lb whilst Bivol, only interested in new challenges and belts, wants to move down to 168lb to challenge for the undisputed titles there.