The day after: Canelo Alvarez loses and should return to super middleweight division

We hadn’t seen it since September 14, 2013. 

What was it?

Canelo Alvarez losing a fight.

Officially. 

There had been some close calls. Remember Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, and the first Gennadiy Golovkin bout?

The Golovkin fight was the worst. 

Alvarez was pressed all night - on his back foot, but still, he didn’t lose. 

The consensus going into his fight with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol last night was that a decision wouldn’t go against Alvarez. 

The thinking was boxing’s biggest attraction would not be “allowed” to lose. 

Sickening. 

Bivol fought very well, utilizing his advantages in height and reach. His jab was the key. Days before his match with Alvarez, he had mentioned watching Sergey Kovalev’s fight with Alvarez. 

Many don’t remember how close that fight was. He’d fight like the bigger man and pump his jab over and over. 

Mission accomplished. 

"He kept hitting me in the arms and I kept hitting him in the face," said Bivol. 

But after 12 rounds, there was still some doubt about the decision. There shouldn’t have been. Bivol had won fair and square. Perhaps that’s why Alvarez acted as though he had done enough to win. 

Maybe he thought he couldn’t lose a decision.

Thankfully he was wrong. 

Alvarez has been a polarizing figure for years. Many called his fight setups -even last night. Not fair. 

Styles make fights. Defeating Alvarez doesn’t mean that Bivol is the better fighter. Alvarez moving up in weight was an issue. The Mexican icon bit off more than he could chew. No shame in that. 

He said after the fight that he wanted a rematch with Bivol. An hour later, his words sounded more benign.

"We’re going to go see what’s next, talk about it and we’ll let you know," Alvarez said. "We’ll have to wait and see what happens." 

What should happen is no second fight with Bivol. At least for the foreseeable future. Alvarez has challenges in

the super middleweight division. The bigger David Benavidez would be a problem. 

Testing yourself is fine, but being realistic is better.