Dmitry Bivol will not pursue a rematch with Canelo Alvarez if he loses to Gennady Golovkin on Saturday night.
Alvarez is set to take on another tough test this weekend when he makes his return to 168lb to defend his undisputed titles against Golovkin in a third meeting at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It will be the Mexican's chance to respond after being outclassed by Bivol on his return to 175lb in his last fight, handing him the second defeat of his career.
He initially explored the opportunity of an immediate shot at redemption against Bivol, but the 175lb champion will instead defend his title against Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez in November. And the Russian's manager has revealed that there is no obligation to make the fight particularly if Alvarez loses for a third time.
“If Canelo loses Golovkin, then we’re not fighting in the rematch with him either,” told Boxing Scene when discussing a potential second meeting between the pair. “I heard him say that he’s not fighting Bivol if he lost to Ramirez. If [Canelo] lost to Golovkin, we’re not fighting Canelo.
“There is no obligation for the rematch to occur. We can make it happen. We have an agreement that if the fight can be made, we will make it. Our partnership with Matchroom [Boxing], we can always make it work. It’s a big money fight. But if he lost to Golovkin, it’s not that big of a fight anymore and we can just go fight somebody else.”
Alvarez will take on Golovkin for the third time as he looks to put to bed their rivalry which has spanned for several years since their first meeting in 2017. The pair first fought to a hugely controversial split decision draw with the widespread view suggesting that Golovkin was unfortunate not to have his hand raised.
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A rivalry that had heated up from the controversial result was rekindled the following year with this time Alvarez having his hand raised in a majority decision win that was once again deemed contentious. Now the pair will renew their feud after weeks of heated build-up with Alvarez signing to take on Golovkin prior to his defeat to Bivol.
And Alvarez has recently revealed that he was contractually obliged to accept the trilogy bout over any sequel with Bivol after being advised by his promoter Eddie Hearn. "I really wanted the rematch in September [against Dmitry Bivol] but my promoter Eddie Hearn said we have a contract to fight Gennady Golovkin in September and we need to do that fight," Alvarez told reporters during a huddle at yesterday's media day in Las Vegas.
"So that is why we are here and I am happy. I really wanted the rematch but obviously my team and I decided to fight Golovkin and I think it is a great moment. We will see if I can get a rematch with Bivol but he needs to win."
