Former world champion Tony Belew believes that the absolute world champion in the second middleweight Saul Alvarez next fight should be against WBA Super light heavyweight title holder Dmitry Bivol.
“If Canelo wants to expand his legacy, he needs to do so by clearing out the light heavyweight division. Then the next person on his list should be Dmitry Bivol. Now the top 3 light heavyweights are Artur Beterbiev, Bivol and Joe Smith. It is said that the first and third will meet this year, so Bivol is the best way for Canelo to win the title at this weight.
Beterbiev and Smith are big and powerful punchers of impressive size. So it makes sense for Canelo to test himself with Bivol before trying to fight the winner of the Beterbiev-Smith fight at the end of the year.
The Russian is a very good fighter with a great base. He differs from other champions in that he does not have much power. Canelo has a chance to outbox anyone. Bivol would take the opportunity to fight the best boxer in the world. Think of the doors that would open for him if he somehow made a small upset,” Belew wrote in a column for DAZN.
