Canelo Alvarez on Saturday suffered a surprise defeat as Russia’s Dmitry Bivol successfully defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title with a win by unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
All three judges scored the fight 115-113 in Bivol’s favor at the end of 12 rounds as the Mexican was handed only the second loss of his career, nine years after he was beaten by Floyd Mayweather Jr in November 2013.
Bivol silenced the sell-out crowd to take his record to 20 wins from 20 fights, while Alvarez, widely considered the best fighter in the world before the bout, slips to 57-2-2.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I’m glad I proved myself today. I’m the best in my division and I keep this belt,” Bivol said. “He’s a great champion. I respect him and all his team.”
“If you don’t believe in yourself, what do you do? You achieve nothing. I believe and my team believed in me,” Bivol said. “I felt his power. You can see on my arm — he beat my arm up, but not my head. That’s better.”
Alvarez, the overwhelming pre-fight favorite, was rarely able to find a way through Bivol’s defensive guard as the 31-year-old put on a disciplined display.
The Russian regularly used his jab to keep Alvarez on his heels, unloading flurries of punches to redden the smaller man’s face and convince the judges to award him the fight.
Alvarez had previously won at light heavyweight, defeating Sergey Kovalev by knockout to win the World Boxing Organization version of the title in November 2019, but Bivol proved too good to succumb.
“You have to accept it. It’s boxing,” Alvarez said of the loss. “He’s a great champion. Sometimes in boxing you win and lose, and I’m not giving excuses. I lost today and he won.”
Alvarez stressed he wanted the pair to fight again.
“Yeah, of course I do,” he said when asked about a rematch. “This doesn’t end like this.”
“I wanted this fight because I wanted to get the opportunity and I appreciate this opportunity,” Bivol said, also eager for a rematch. “I’m ready for a rematch — I just want to be treated as the champion now.”
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS