- Bivol outpoints Álvarez to retain WBA title at 175lbs
- All three ringside judges hand down scores of 115-113
- Canelo Álvarez v Dmitry Bivol – as it happened
Dmitry Bivol shocked Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez, his devastated army of fans, all of Mexico and boxing itself when he retained his WBA light heavyweigh title with a consummate victory on points in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Bivol, the 31-year-old Russian, improves his record to a perfect 20-0 but none of his previous victories come close to the magnitude of this utterly dominant win over the feted Álvarez. Bivol was awarded the decision on all three scorecards by a scandalously narrow margin of 115-113.
Álvarez’s bruised, cut and swollen face, and dejected demeanour through much of the fight, told the real story. Bivol’s significant advantages in size, power and speed made the difference. He was simply too big, too fast, too skilful and too concentrated for Álvarez, who won his first world title at 147lbs – which is 28 pounds lighter than the division where he suffered such a painful defeat at the T-Mobile Arena.