Dmitry Bivol has now faced two of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters of his era, with Artur Beterbiev and Canelo Alvarez both looking set to enter the Hall of Fame.
Against Beterbiev, though, he was forced to suffer a highly controversial defeat, with their compelling battle last Saturday causing fans to demand a rematch.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, too, was appalled at the decision, slamming judge Pawel Kardyni’s scorecard of 116-112 in favor of the new undisputed light heavyweight champion.
But still, Dmitry Bivol has remained humble in defeat, while his manager, Vadim Kornilov, is actively pursuing an official protest against Kardyni.
Dmitry Bivol claims that Canelo Alvarez hits harder than Artur Beterbiev
With Artur Beterbiev seizing Bivol’s WBA strap in Saudi Arabia, many would now consider him to be the top dog at 175 lbs.
The 39-year-old, after all, possesses a formidable knockout ratio of 95 percent, with Bivol becoming his only opponent to hear the final bell.
Astonishingly, though, Bivol has revealed that Canelo Alvarez, who he outpointed back in 2022, carries more one-punch power than Beterbiev.
Of course, the 33-year-old admits that his light heavyweight rival is no feather-fisted operator, but still he insists that super middleweight king Canelo can, at times, hit even harder.
“Beterbiev is not about a heavy punch,” Bivol told FightHub. “He’s about how strong he is, not only one punch, combinations.
“All his punches in the combinations are heavy. Canelo put all his energy on single punches. Maybe with single punches Canelo is harder than Beterbiev.
“But if you ask them to do five punches, with Beterbiev every punch will be hard.”
Will Turki Alalshikh deliver the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol rematch?
The obvious next step for Bivol is to enter an immediate rematch with Beterbiev, after showing that he can, in fact, cope with the destructive puncher’s power.
Boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh has already expressed a desire to deliver a second encounter between the pair, knowing that team Bivol will be eager to exact some revenge.
On the other hand, a potential rematch with Canelo represents another lucrative option for the technician, with the Mexican still keen to erase the only other blemish on his record.
And yet, one would suspect that, for Bivol, there is no option but to collide with Beterbiev for the undisputed crown once again.