Canelo Álvarez vs.

Dmitry Bivol Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol (russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Бивол; born 18 December 1990) is a Russian professional boxer who has held the WBA light heavyweight title since 2017. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2013 World Com ...

, billed as ''Legacy is Earned'', was a

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

match between 4-division world champion, Canelo Álvarez, and defending WBA (Super)

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

champion,

. The fight took place on May 7, 2022, with Bivol prevailing as the winner by unanimous decision.

Background

After Canelo Álvarez unified all four major world titles to become undisputed

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

champion with an eleventh-round technical knockout victory over

Caleb Plant Caleb Hunter Plant (born July 8, 1992) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF super middleweight title from 2019 to 2021. As of November 2021, he is ranked as the world's third-best active super middleweight by the Transnational Box ...

on November 6, 2021, it appeared likely that Álvarez would move up to challenge for a world title in a fifth division, when his trainer Eddy Reynoso successfully petitioned the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

on November 15, 2021, to allow Álvarez to challenge WBC cruiserweight champion

Ilunga Makabu Junior Ilunga Makabu (born 8 November 1987) is a Congolese-South African professional boxer. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2020 to 2023. As of June 2022, he is ranked as the world's second-best active cruiserweight by BoxRec, and ...

. The fight ultimately did not happen, as Makabu was forced into a mandatory defense of his title in a rematch against

Thabiso Mchunu Thabiso Mchunu (born 4 March 1988) is a South African professional boxer. He has challenged twice for a world title; first in 2016 for the WBO cruiserweight title. In 2022, he challenged for the WBC cruiserweight title. As of August, 2022, Mch ...

on January 29, 2022, which the former won via split decision. Instead, it was announced on February 25, 2022, that Álvarez had signed a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing; the first fight would see him returning to the light heavyweight division to challenge long-reigning undefeated WBA (Super) champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 in a bout that would be televised as sports streaming service DAZN's first

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

offering in the United States and Canada. Bivol first won the WBA

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

light heavyweight title in only his seventh professional bout in May 2016, making his first defense of the full WBA world title in 2017, before being designated as Super champion in 2019. Against Álvarez, Bivol made his fourth defense of the WBA (Super) title, and his ninth world title defense overall. The fight was able to take place because while in response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

three of boxing's world governing bodies (the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

, and World Boxing Organization) had blocked championship fights involving Russian and Belarusian boxers, the World Boxing Association (WBA) chose to allow the fight to proceed.

Fight card

Broadcasting

The bout was broadcast live by sports streaming service DAZN to existing subscribers worldwide excluding Latin America. The bout was broadcast on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Bivol Bivol 2022 in boxing May 2022 sports events in the United States 2022 in sports in Nevada Boxing matches at T-Mobile Arena Events in Paradise, Nevada Boxing on DAZN Boxing on ESPN Light heavyweight championship matches