Dmitry Bivol’s team respond after Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez skips rematch by agreeing Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy fight | Boxing News

Dmitry Bivol is already looking ahead to his next challenge after Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez put a prospective rematch on hold by agreeing a trilogy fight with Gennadiy Golovkin for later this year.

Bivol handed Canelo just the second loss of his 61-fight career earlier this month to defend his WBA light-heavyweight title in a unanimous decision victory, with the step up in weight proving too much for the Mexican on this occasion.

Canelo will now revert to super-middleweight as the reigning WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO champion in order to face Golovkin on September 17, having edged their rematch on points in 2018 after a controversial draw between the two a year earlier.

While it offers boxing an eagerly-awaited trilogy it also presses pause on Canelo’s desire to make amends, leaving Bivol to begin his search for an opponent.

“Dmitry has begun his preparations for the next fight already. But it is impossible to say, who will be the next person to fight with – we have just begun to think about it, ” Bivol’s promoter Andrey Ryabinskiy told Sky Sports.

“I believe in Dmitry. Today he is definitely one of the best fighters in the world because of the combination of his physical conditions, his abilities to concentrate on the result and his technique.”

Canelo has underlined his intention to fight Bivol for a second time once he has closed his chapter with Golovkin, although it remains to be seen whether or not that would once again come at 175 pounds.

In the meantime, Bivol has been linked to a possible fight with Gilberto Ramirez as well as the winner of next month’s clash between Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith as they meet for the IBF, WBC and WBO light-heavyweight titles.

Britain’s Joshua Buatsi is another fighter deemed in the running to face the Russian after beating Craig Richards via a unanimous decision last week.