Former two-weight world champion, US boxing analyst and television commentator Paul Malignaggi gave
interview for the British media.
In a conversation, the ex-champion commented on the defeat of the absolute champion of the second middleweight (up to 76.2 kg) Saul Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) to the Russian WBA light heavyweight champion (up to 79.4 kg) Dmitry Bivol (20- 0.11 KOs). Paul also expressed his opinion about a possible rematch between the boxers and a possible fight between Canelo and the unified heavyweight champion Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs).
Did you expect this to happen in the big fight between Canelo and Bivol?
“I expected a good fight from Bivol and that he could be robbed. If you watch my channel, then I said there that this would be a controversial decision. Because you can’t predict what the judges will do. Therefore, I assumed that Bivol would have a good fight and be robbed. I called it a controversial decision, because these days you can’t say that this is a robbery. And so it almost happened. The judges counted closer than they should have. But in the end, the right fighter won by decision.
“Canelo will lose to Bivol at 76 kg.” Antonio Margarito on the defeat of the Pound leader
Bivol is an amazing fighter. Everyone knows how I feel about Eastern European fighters. I consider them a rising group in the sport. It is difficult to deal with them from both sides: both physically and psychologically. That’s why guys like Bivol and Golovkin were difficult for Canelo. People will remember Kovalev, but Kovalev did not confirm his reputation then. You could see he didn’t fight the Crusher mentality in the Canelo fight. However, it’s hard to blame the Eastern European fighter for not giving his all to the fight. He will fight you all the time. You can beat him, but he will fight you to the end. Bivol’s confidence grew as the fight progressed. He was determined to end the fight with a win.
What could Canelo have done differently?
“He could do something differently that I have never seen from him – fight at a higher pace. I asked this question in my predictions before the fight. Can Canelo pick up the pace because Bivol picks up the pace? Bivol tends to fight at a higher pace. That was sort of the difference in the duel. What can you do at a faster pace? I don’t know if Canelo has it, because at first I thought he made too much money, he doesn’t want to be uncomfortable, he kind of created his legacy, and when he needs to raise his level even higher – this hard. He didn’t even do it against Mayweather, and he was younger there. He was declassed and beaten by experience, but he didn’t even press to say, “I’m at my own expense, but I’ll try to get the win.”
Maybe the problem is inside him? He needs to sort of go inside himself, but we’ll see what he’s going to do. Personally, I don’t think he needs a rematch. I think he needs to go to the third fight with Golovkin, and then rethink everything. Canelo fans will now tell me that he stepped up when he fought Golovkin in the second fight. Yes, he went ahead in the second fight, but the number of punches he threw didn’t change. Yes, he changed this aggressiveness, but not what I’m talking about. So back off.
Alvarez and Golovkin’s new fight just got bigger – promoter
Bivol, unlike Golovkin, does not sit down under all his blows. This means he throws more punches. And this means that you need to increase the workrate in order to take these rounds. This is not easy to do. Personally, I don’t think this is the best fight for Canelo, plus he’s not at his best weight. But if you go down with Bivol at 76 kg, then there will be something to talk about. This will make the fight more interesting. Although I do not think that everything will change in the fight. At 76 kg we also have guys bigger than him. I want to give credit to Canelo. He could fight someone like Makabu, who is bigger but more vulnerable than Bivol, but he chose Bivol. You have to give credit for this. So he tested himself a little more. I think the talk about Usyk is no longer relevant. It was absolutely stupid to allow such a thing. Here, in fact, is my assessment of the whole situation.
“I’ll ask you more about Usyk. Do you think that in all of Usyk’s fight week talk, Canelo was looking behind Bivol’s back?
These conversations happen all the time during Canelo’s fight week. I was in Canelo’s fight week before his fight with Plant and they were discussing other options for him. This is not something new. When Canelo fights, these conversations are everywhere.