Antonio Tarver feels that Canelo Alvarez has a shot at beating undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev at 175 if he can avoid getting hit flush by him as Dmitry Bivol did last Saturday night in Riyadh.
Tarver feels that Canelo’s mobility problems could make him easy prey for Beterbiev if he can’t move the way Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) to elude him. He notes that Canelo is slow on his feet and nowhere near as mobile as Bivol is.
Beterbiev Holds the Crown Jewels
If Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) can avoid getting hit cleanly by Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), he could outbox him if he’s able to do that for a full 12 rounds like the former WBA 175-lb champion Bivol did last Saturday.
Bivol would have won if he hadn’t moved so much and had forgotten about throwing punches in the second part of their fight. Canelo won’t make that mistake. He’ll throw and won’t try to spoil his way to a controversial win the way Bivol did. He’s more of a warrior and will look to block Beterbiev’s shots and counter him all night.
Canelo and his manager, Eddy Reynoso, haven’t spoken up about challenging Beterbiev for his undisputed championship next, but if they said they want him next, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh would readily agree.
As much interest as there is in a rematch between Beterbiev and Bivol, there would be far more fan appeal in a Canelo-Beterbiev clash. That would attract more interest, and it would be more exciting to watch because Canelo wouldn’t move for 12 rounds, trying not to get hit like Bivol did.
“I don’t know. Canelo was saying that if Bivol had won [against Beterbiev], he was going at Bivol,” said Antonio Tarver to FIghthype on what Canelo Alvarez must do to defeat undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
“I don’t think Eddy [Reynoso] liked that fight the first time, and now Canelo is pushing to go. If Canelo is going to 175 and isn’t fighting at 168 no more, okay, we like that. But if he’s going to campaign at 168, and with David Benavidez having moved up, we’ve lost that fight altogether now. As a fight fan, I would have wanted to see Canelo-Benavidez.”
Canelo has already said that he wants $200 million for the Benavidez fight, so it’s a waste of time to keep bleating about that match happening. If Canelo is going to fight a light heavyweight, he’ll want to fight the best, which means Beterbiev. Sorry, Bivol, but you lost your chance by fighting timidly last Saturday night. You might have to wait your turn if Canelo decides to fight Beterbiev next.
Canelo’s Mobility Issues
“Now that we set the table with Beterbiev-Canelo,” said Tarver. “Canelo is not as fleet-footed as Bivol. Even though he moves, he doesn’t move that much anymore. Again, you hear Bivol say that punching power was still there [against Beterbiev], even though he caught a lot of that stuff on the gloves. Look at his face afterward. The one or two times that he did his him flush, it was devastating. If he could have landed a couple of more flush shots, I think he stops him inside the distance.”
There were still a lot of Beterbiev’s shots that were coming through Bivol, hitting him in the head, and that took a lot of the fight out of him. There was a right hand that Beterbiev hit Bivol with in the seventh round during an exchange that zapped his will to fight.
Bivol showed no heart after getting hit hard by Beterbiev, and the remainder of the fight was like a track meet. It was not remotely appealing other than the suspense of wondering if Bivol would get trapped and knocked out.
“Now, with a slower Canelo and a smaller Canelo coming up, I would hate to see Beterbiev land his shots on Canelo,” said Tarver. “Height-wise, he probably won’t have a big size against Canelo. Canelo is pretty thick. Size-wise, they could be looking at each other. But with punching power, I just think Beterbiev hits a lot harder, and it’s a challenge for Canelo. He’ll probably be going in as an underdog in that fight, but Canelo is a great fighter, an all-time great.”
The oddsmakers could make Canelo the favorite over Beterbiev just like they did with Bivol, who was wrong. They’ll probably make Canelo the favorite because he’s the star, and they’ll base the pick on how Beterbiev fought last Saturday. Let’s face it, that was not vintage Beterbiev.
“I know one thing. A bad night that he [Beterbiev] had, that I thought he had, if he fought like he fought against Bivol, I think Canelo has a chance,” said Tarver. “If he can’t land solid on Canelo, Canelo has got a chance. If he can avoid a big shot, just like Bivol did, and take him the distance, he has a chance. But if Beterbiev starts cracking, and starts hitting him flush, that’s fight-changing power.”
Canelo has got an excellent chance of defeating Beterbiev if he gets the same version of what we saw against Bivol. The only question is whether Canelo could block or duck the shots that Beterbiev will be throwing once he traps him against the ropes like hie repeatedly did against Bivol.
“If Father Time wasn’t the catalyst in that fight against Bivol, and we won’t know that until the rematch. How he [Beterbiev] feels when he goes back to training camp. Can he get his balance back? Can he get his timing more accurate because he missed a lot of punches in that fight that could have changed the game.
“I think Benavidez does because of the size. He’s a natural light heavyweight, a big guy,” said Tarver when asked who poses the bigger threat to Artur Beterbiev between Canelo and David Benavidez. “He’ll have height and reach over Beterbiev, and he can box. Yeah, if he can avoid getting cracked because, I tell you, Beterbiev is still the hardest puncher in the game. I believe in his power until I see otherwise.
“The reason he didn’t get Bivol out of there, and maybe it was all Bivol, but he was never able to land a flush knockout shot where he really measured him and got in in there. I didn’t see that shot all night. Even the uppercut was crazing. It wasn’t smashing like you normally see. The two uppercuts that they showed highlights of didn’t hit him flush, and that was Beterbiev all night, missing by just a little bit,” said Tarver.
Beterbiev did land uppercuts on Bivol, and he had him in a state of pure panic from rounds 8 through 12. Bivol looked scared and gave up fighting. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, was all worked up afterward about his loss, seeing the Canelo money fight to disappear before his eyes. Bivol got hit with enough shots from Beterbiev that he did not want to throw in the second half. Hence, he lost, and now there’s a possibility of Canelo stepping in to face the King, Beterbiev, if he wants it.
“I think so because of his size, height, and reach,” said Tarver when asked if Benavidez would stand a better chance against Beterbiev than Canelo. “The way that Benavidez is a lot more aggressive, I could see him backing Beterbiev up with that jab. So, David has got some s*** with him. So does Canelo, but I just think the height and reach would give Canelo some problems,” said Tarver.
Benavidez is too easy to hit, and would try to go to war with Beterbiev. That would end badly for Benavidez, who got beat up in his fight against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th. Benavidez won that fight by a 12-round unanimous decision, but he looked like he’d been run over by a car. Beterbiev would be all over Benavidez, nailing him with shots to the head that would break down his frail body.
