Canelo Bivol 2

Oh they will try and make it 168, with a list of rehydration clauses, the weigh in will be 168 obviously, then they'll have "no more than 7lbs more morning of the fight" and they will keep hanging around for a couple of hours waiting because the officials "will go missing" and night of the fight no more than another 10lb.


Something like that, they will want Bivol weakened.

 

The distance that Bivol was able to keep with footwork and jab made it very difficult for Canelo to get his offense going. Bivol controlled Canelo with the jab alone.

 

This is correct. Canelo had no answer for that jab and movement. No plan B. Even his hand picked judges couldn’t save him. They tried.

 

Canelo was tired, because Bivol was making him work very hard and did not gave him time to rest between his punches.

 

He was able to dodge and sometimes counter the singular jab. Canelo had no issue closing the distance when Bivol relied just on the jab.
It was the combinations that Canelo had no answer to. That and Bivol´s superb footwork, as even when Canelo could get close to him or back him against the ropes, it was just for a brief moment.

Just look at round 12, when Canelo was dead tired. Singular jabs from Bivol? Not really an issue. Closing the distance/cutting off the ring to land something? Not an issue for Canelo.
Combinations from Bivol? Canelo could barely keep up at all. He would just have to wait for Bivol to stop while trying to mitigate as much punishment as he could. And that was basically the story of the fight.

If Canelo learned to use his jab better, he could win a rematch. And it´s not like he hasn´t evolved his style before. I for one am excited for a rematch.

 

It's simple.

Bivol is a completely wrong stylistic matchup for Canelo. Canelo does well with aggressive pressure fighters that try load up on him, or static type guys that have feet of clay. Canelo has good speed and thrives off using his explosive counter punches and combos on slower guys. Canelo has good power and can put a hurting on guys his size that he can hit cleanly.

Bivol is faster than Canelo. He has longer levers than Canelo. He has very mobile feet which means ginger is never going to get set and blast him with his power punches cleanly. Bivol is also considerably bigger than Canelo which means ginger's punches aren't going to have as much effect as usual. Bivol took Smith Jr's best punch and remained standing. While Canelo hits hard, he doesn't hit like Smith, no way.

So if Canelo has to outpoint Bivol he's in deep crap. Bivol is a very busy fighter and Canelo is not. Bivol has superb stamina and Canelo has a hamster gas tank. Canelo has knee troubles which means he's not going to be able to chase Bivol all over the ring all night. Canelo throws looping punches and Bivol's straight punches are faster, snappier and longer.

A rematch will go the same way because of who these fighters are, fundamentally.

 

Don't see it going any other way than 1st time around.... At 168 or 175... Canelo could not pin him and could only bruise his arm..... The way Bivol was able to move away from ropes and not get cornered in any way really got to Canelo.... And even if he does get pinned in a corner at any stage he has the power to get out of it.....