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sports Monday 9 May 2022
Alvarez faces questions after first loss in nearly a decade

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Canelo ing an undefeated cham- fore knocking Kovalev out
Alvarez paused on his way pion, Bivol consistently beat in the 11th round of their
to the ring to pose with his Alvarez to the punch and 2019 fight. But Kovalev was
right fist high in the air, bask- wasn't afraid to trade inside an aging fighter who was
ing in the adulation of thou- with him. He was credited on the downside of his ca-
sands of his frenzied fans with landing 152 punches reer. Bivol, on the other
expecting nothing more on to just 85 for Alvarez, and hand, was unbeaten and
this Cinco de Mayo week- out landed him in every had never been in the kind
end than another big win round. of ring war that wears fight-
by a fighter already con- Fighting at 175 pounds al- ers down.
sidered one of Mexico's all- ways seemed a stretch for Instead, it was Alvarez who
time greats. Alvarez, who beat Sergey was marked up and looked
He left 12 rounds later with Kovalev in his only other the worse for wear when
his first loss in nine years, bout at light heavy. Fighting the bell sounded to end the
seemingly as stunned by an unbeaten 175-pound final round. Alvarez said af-
the unexpected outcome champion turned out to be Dmitry Bivol, right, of Kyrgyzstan, throws a punch against Cane- terward he thought he did
lo Alvarez, of Mexico, during a light heavyweight title boxing
as the sold-out crowd that a bridge too far. match, Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Las Vegas. enough to win the bout,
came to watch. "We talked going into this Associated Press but the only real question
Dmitry Bivol didn't just beat fight how good Dmitry Bivol for those watching in the
Alvarez Saturday night at is, how tough this fight was a little bit flat? Did he look wanted fights that chal- arena and on pay-per-
the T-Mobile Arena on the and it was a punch-perfect tired? I think it was the bril- lenged him. Acutely aware view was how much the
glittering Strip. He gave him performance," said Eddie liance of Dmitry Bivol." of his legacy — particularly judges might be swayed
a beating in a light heavy- Hearn, who promotes Al- Alvarez admitted in the in Mexico — he was confi- by Alvarez' reputation and
weight fight that wasn't varez. "He had to box ex- week before the fight dent he could wear Bivol the screams of his support-
nearly as close as the iden- actly the way he did to win that he was taking a big down over the course of ers every time he landed a
tical 115-113 cards turned the fight. Did Canelo look chance against Bivol but the fight, just as he did be- punch.q
in by the three ringside
judges.
And now the questions be-
gin. Did Alvarez take too big
of a risk moving up to 175
pounds to take on a tough
champion in Bivol? Did the
loss to the Russian damage
the legacy Alvarez has built
in the last decade along
with his status as the best
pound-for-pound fighter in
the world?
And, perhaps more impor-
tantly, what becomes of his
third fight with Gennadiy
Golovkin, a long-awaited
mega bout that now sure-
ly won't be happening in
September as planned, if
at all?
No, one bad night may not
wreck Alvarez's career. He
has accomplished way too
much for that.
But after perhaps his worst
outing as a pro, there's
work to be done before
he's talked about in such
elevated terms again.
"You have to expect it. It is
boxing. No excuses," said
Alvarez, who hadn't lost in
16 fights since dropping a
decision in 2013 to Floyd
Mayweather Jr. "I lost today
and he won. He's a really
good fighter."
Bivol was more than that
on this night. He was a big-
ger, slicker fighter who did
what Alvarez usually does
to his opponents — impose
his will on the man across
the ring from him.
A 5-1 underdog despite be-