During this conversation with Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV, trainer Abel Sanchez breaks down the upcoming light heavyweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol. Sanchez gives Bivol credit as being a very good, sound boxer, but doesn’t think he has it in him to keep up with Canelo over the course of the fight. Check out some excerpts on how Sanchez views the fight below.
Sanchez on if Bivol poses a serious threat to Canelo
“I’ve had one of my guys — I’m not gonna mention who — go down and spar with Bivol down at Manny’s down at Santa Fe Springs, and my guy didn’t have a hard time with him. He is a very skilled fighter but he’s a very cautious fighter, he doesn’t take the chances you need to take at that level. As you’re coming up, maybe, but at that level you need to take some chances to make things happen and he doesn’t seem to have that gear.
“Canelo was supposed to have a tough fight against Saunders, Canelo was supposed to have a tough fight against Plant, but by the fifth or sixth round in both of those fights he was like hitting the bag, he could’ve closed his eyes and still hit these guys. So I think Canelo’s just in the perfect time of his career. Bivol will present some problems in the beginning…but once Canelo zooms in, maybe sixth, seventh, eighth round, I’m not gonna say an easy fight but a fight that will be easily won by him.
On if he thinks Bivol has no chance to beat Canelo
“I don’t think so. I think it’s a 70-30 fight if Canelo trips before he gets into the ring and hits his head. You know what, it’s not that Bivol is a bad fighter. It’s just Canelo is — I’m not gonna say in his prime — in a time in his career where if he continues to train the way that he’s training, there’s gonna be few guys that are gonna get close to him.”
On fan criticism over Canelo choosing Bivol over Charlo and Benavidez, and whether or not Bivol is the trickiest fight for Canelo
“The tricks are great, the technique is great, but when you start getting hit all of that goes out the window. When Canelo stalks you like he does and lands shots where he lands them, it’s gonna be difficult to stay away from him…Canelo’s on a different level right now.”