Saul Alvarez selected an opponent on pause

The absolute world champion in the super middleweight (up to 76.2 kg) and one of the most popular boxers in the world, the Mexican Saul Alvarez, will have his next fight against the very famous American Jermall Charlo, who has not entered the ring for a long time. This fight is actually a replacement for the failed rematch between Alvarez and Russian Dmitry Bivol who defeated him in 2022. Light heavyweight champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA) (up to 79.4 kg) Bivol, meanwhile, has not yet learned the name of his next opponent. True, a rather curious option in this sense appeared last weekend. The desire to meet with Dmitry Bivol was announced by the former world champion Ukrainian Alexander Gvozdyk, who parted with the title of the World Boxing Council (WBC) after losing to another domestic superstar – Artur Beterbiev.

The fact that in his next fight Saul Alvarez will meet with Jermall Charlo, said ESPN. According to him, it will take place, presumably, on September 16 and will be timed to coincide with the celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day. This will be the first of three appearances under the hugely popular Alvarez’s new promotional deal with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions. Previously, the Mexican collaborated with another top promoter – Eddie Hearn. As a result of this transition, the Showtime channel received the right to broadcast Alvarez’s fights instead of the DAZN streaming service.

The fight with Jermall Charlo is, in fact, a replacement for the Saul Alvarez match with a completely different boxer. The fact is that in the fall he was supposed to fight with Russian Dmitry Bivol, who owns the World Boxing Association world champion title in light heavyweight.

The peak of Bivol’s career, which so far has no misfires in his track record, was his match against Saul Alvarez in May last year. Before him, the Mexican, who had risen to the division of the Russian, occupied the top lines in all significant classifications of the strongest fighters, regardless of category, and was considered the undisputed favorite. Meanwhile, an unexpectedly convincing victory on points won Bivol. That success along with the November winning from the famous compatriot Alvarez Gilberto Ramirez brought Dmitry Bivol the title of the best boxer of 2022 in all major versions, including the most authoritative edition of The Ring.

After that, both rivals have repeatedly stated that they are preparing for a rematch. The issue that it will take place in the fall was considered already resolved, and the representatives of the boxers mentioned only rather insignificant details that remain the subject of discussion, for example, the category in which Bivol and Alvarez will fight. Fights with the participation of Saul Alvarez after the defeat by the Russian champion, in which he took over over the representative of Kazakhstan Gennady Golovkin and Briton John Ryder, were considered as “warm-up” before the second clash with Dmitry Bivol.

However, the fight, which had every chance to turn into one of the main events of the season in professional boxing, broke.

Various sources are inclined to the version that Bivol’s citizenship was among the reasons that caused the breakdown. The World Boxing Council, whose super middleweight belt belongs to Alvarez along with the belts of the World Boxing Association, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO), has repeatedly stated that it will not sanction the fights of Russian athletes, especially title fights. It is believed that for this reason, for example, it is not possible to arrange a duel between Bivol and another Russian, Artur Beterbiev, the owner of the WBC, IBF and WBO titles, for the status of the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

There are serious doubts about the quality of the replacement. Jermall Charlo is a fighter with a bright background. He has won all 32 pro fights and has held the WBC title since 2019. The catch is that the American had a huge break in his career. He hasn’t fought since June 2021, and the official explanation for his pause is “mental problems.”

As for Dmitry Bivol, whose previous fight – with Ramirez – took place in November 2022, there is no certainty with his future opponent yet.

But at least last weekend there was quite an interesting option in this sense. In an interview ProBox TV Bivol was challenged by Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Gvozdyk said that the Russian light heavyweight is “the one he is now targeting.”

Alexander Gvozdyk was once extremely highly rated as a real boxing superstar. The blow to the reputation of Gvozdik, who effectively dealt with all the opponents that came across on the way, was dealt by another chic Russian light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev. In 2019, Beterbiev, having knocked out a Ukrainian in the tenth round, took away his WBC belt. The defeat was so painful for Gvozdyk that he even announced his retirement from boxing. However, this year the Ukrainian nevertheless returned to the sport and managed to win two victories over opponents that were mediocre by elite standards – the Mexican Josue Obando and the Latvian Richards Bolotniks.

Alexey Dospekhov