Cinco de Mayo weekend is a well known time for big boxing events and the Kentucky Derby horse race also takes place around the same time each year.
On Saturday, May 7, we saw an 80-1 longshot Rich Strike pull off one of the biggest upsets in Kentucky Derby horse racing history and the horse did it rightfully so by clearly winning the race.
In Las Vegas on the same day, Mexican boxing hero Canelo Alvarez lost on points to undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol by a score of 115-113 on all three judges scorecards.
I saw the news saying it was another upset, but I disagree. I felt the fight was closer and Canelo vs Bivol should have at least been scored a Draw or Canelo won by 115-113.
Bivol was moving back most of the fight, and Canelo was walking him down and throwing the harder punches. I don’t see how Bivol’s arm punch flurries would be more damaging than the power shots Canelo was throwing and landing on the shoulders, arms and sides of Bivol.
Canelo controlled the early rounds, with Bivol just jabbing at air almost scared to engage. Bivol didn’t try to finish the show or commit to his punches, it seemed he was scared of Canelo’s power and fought cautious just to go the distance and say he survived against the great Mexican pound for pound King.
Bivol didn’t pick up the pace until the later rounds, and was just throwing punches to score and kept his distance for fear of the hard counter punch from Canelo. I just don’t see how all three judges scored it in favor of Bivol. I had Canelo winning 115-113 in a competitive close fight, because he pushed the pace, he constantly backed up the bigger guy and imposed his will through out the fight. The only time Bivol had courage to exchange is when Canelo was having lulls in the action to catch his breath.
When a fight is close you gotta give the edge to the fighter who is pushing the action and trying to do the most damage going forward. Pitter-pat punches to try to steal the rounds is not impressive. If Bivol tried to sit on his punches more and trade with Canelo, he would get hurt bad or stopped and this is why he played it safe.
I do admit Canelo got tired. His conditioning wasn’t good and it was likely due to over-training or having to chase down a guy who was just jabbing and back stepping. Canelo will need to improve his conditioning in the rematch, but also not try to spend all his energy early going for the knockout early.
If the rematch happens, put the fight on an even playing field and go down to the super middleweight division for the undisputed title if he wants a bigger payday or else no rematch. Canelo is the cash cow and needs to put his foot down, he can’t keep giving these fighters advantages over him if he is the draw.
Big time boxing fan. Grew up in East Los, and been an avid follower of the sport and the legends like Julio Cesar Chavez, Vicente Saldivar, Salvador Sanchez, Carlos Zarate, Erik Morales, Ricardo Lopez and Juan Manuel Marquez just to name a few.
Current favorite boxers: Canelo Alvarez, Mikey Garcia.