Was Bivol a cherry pick gone wrong for Canelo ?

If by cherry pick you mean a fighter Alvarez thought he would beat, then of course it was. There is nothing wrong with that. However, Canelo is a confident guy who thinks he can beat a lot of people. Bivol was not a cherry pick from the point of view that they thought he was flawed and would be easy pickings.

 

Boxing fans are the worst. Seriously. Any time a fighter loses they are a hype job. How many other guys are there that are so much better than Bivol could he have fought? Maybe 3? And how much better were they? Debatably about the same.

He lost. Not everyone is a Gary Russell Jr fighting total nobodies their whole career. GRJ got waxed when he stepped up and then promptly crawled back into his hole. At least Canelo is still fighting top guys.
So many "boxing fans" are just bad for the sport.

 

I wonder what kind of idiot thinks that an undefeated champion in a higher weight is a cherry pick.

 

Not really. He may have a avoided a puncher like Beterviev or Smith but skill wise Bivol is as good as it gets in the division. Not to mention Bivol already beat Smith convincingly. Canelo doesn't even belong at 175 to begin with. He's thick and stocky but never had the frame to compete full time at LHW. All the Usyk talk was hype.

 

The problem is the other guy who had the belts is Beterbiev and Nelo team wants a belt. So it's gonna be between Bivol and Beterbiev.

Bivol didn't look too good in his last two fights and Canelo team knows he was a small 175 and he had a belt which was what Nelo team is after. It looked good to go on paper. So Hearns co-signed and go ahead.

 

Yes. Team Clenelo and Hearn thought he was an easy belt.

 

His other options were beterbeiv or going back down to 168 for benavidez. Bivol not being he hardest puncher or physically the biggest 175er, plus looking not so great in his last few fights made it a no brainer. He probably banked on making it look like a close fight and then the judges giving him a 115 - 113 UD but he got beat up instead

 

If it actually was a cherry pick, which I doubt, then Canelo DKSAB.

It was fairly clear to anyone familiar with Canelo and Bivol that Canelo would have very little chance in that fight.

Too big, too fast, too good.

 

It was not close.

I had it 10-2...but 12-0 was also reasonable.

Had Canelo picked Beterbiev instead, he would have been stopped, thereby depriving the judges of any chance of "helping" him.

 

Caleb was top 2 at 168 and while you can't REALLY call a unification fight a cherrypick it was obvious Caleb wasn't very good or challenging. Mid offensive game. Only has good feet and a serviceable jab. He was 0 threat.

Benavidez at 168 (perhaps Morrell) and Beterbiev, Bivol at 175 were always the only real threats.

 

Spot on. I think I had it 119 - 109 or 118 - 110.

 

Articulated perfectly

 

No doubt, but if it was a failure - it paid off handsomely at the bank.

Clearly Canelo & Co thought they would just walk through Bivol's best stuff to slug him out of there sooner or later. How wrong they were.

 

Yes