From the moment Dmitry Bivol’s hand was raised in victory, he’s been on the mind of Canelo Alvarez day and night. Of course initially, the two faced off in May of 2022 with Alvarez opting to move up to the light heavyweight division. That brazen jump, in the end, completely backfired. Though he pushed forward, threw combinations, and tried to play timely defense – all three judges scoring their clash gave Bivol the slightest edge.
Before attempting his get back, Alvarez finally closed the chapter on his long-running rivalry with Gennadiy Golovkin just a few months later. In his first appearance of the new year, Alvarez tested his new surgically repaired left hand on the noggin of John Ryder, winning a lopsided decision to kick off his 2023.
With pen and paper in hand, Alvarez banged on the door of Bivol and implored him to run things back in September. Yet, even with the chance to prove that his first win was legitimate, team Bivol hasn’t come across as desperate to acquiesce to Alvarez’s demands. If the pound-for-pound star is to secure a second clash, team Bivol has revealed that it will be under new conditions. Meaning, a different weight class, and heftier paychecks.
In the meanwhile, Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) has ostensibly turned his direction to a handful of other fighters, Jermall Charlo being one of them.
According to Mike Coppinger of ESPN, Charlo is emerging as a frontrunner for Alvarez’s second outing in September.
Despite being big, strong, and powerful, Eddie Hearn not only believes that Charlo won’t win but he’s also convinced that he’ll get steamrolled.
“You can’t expect Charlo to be competitive against Canelo in a September fight coming off two years,” said Hearn during an interview with Fight Hub TV.
During his explanation, Hearn pointed to Charlo’s biggest obstacle…rust, and a lot of it.
Over the years, Charlo spent more and more time out of the ring. In both 2020 and 2021, the 33-year-old has averaged just one yearly appearance. Still, even those meager schedules would be considered an improvement in comparison to his recent run.
Thanks to a bothersome back injury and personal issues, Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) has remained sequestered on the sidelines for over two years. That length of inactivity, coupled with the Houston native still campaigning at 160 pounds, has left Hearn with no choice but to give him a minuscule shot at pulling off the upset if he’s given the call.
Although he believes that his answer is pragmatic, Hearn reveals that he’s a huge fan of Charlo. While his fandom won’t sway him to change his prediction, Hearn is hoping that he at least performs well.
“He’s a good fighter, Charlo. He’s a good character and good luck to him.”