sport news Canelo Alvarez's aura of invincibility is fading after being outclassed by ... trends now
Canelo and losing are not two things that often go together in boxing, and the Mexican's eye-opening defeat to Dmitry Bivol last weekend was certainly not in the Hollywood script.
The biggest blessing Alvarez has is also his problem - the constant need for greater challenge, and on Saturday he came up against an obstacle that was possibly too big to overcome.
The 31-year-old seems to want a piece of everyone. He's already taken down light-heavyweight star Sergey Kovalev and was already talking about fighting Oleksandr Usyk at cruiserweight.
His ambition is his achilles heel because now his aura of invincibility is fading as he keeps challenging the top dogs in higher weight classes.
Canelo Alvarez's loss to Dmitry Bivol took away his aura of invincibility on Saturday night
The Mexican met his match as he was outclassed by the Russian and lost unanimously
Canelo was the favourite to steamroll Bivol in Las Vegas but after his unanimous decision loss, it is clear far too many people have either never seen Bivol fight or don't respect his skillset enough.
Bivol caused the pound-for-pound king so many problems with his stinging jab, quick hands, smart defence and stubbornness - so much so that Canelo appeared to look deflated half way through the fight as he struggled to come up with a successful game plan.
The Russian was clever, precise and calculated with every punch thrown and every step he took. Canelo was largely restricted to body shots - summed up by Bivol's bright red arm come the final bell.
This did not look like the feared, elite fighter that many have been calling one of the greatest fighters of his generation - and possibly one of the best ever. But the issue is that Canelo might have to learn to stay in his lane if he now goes into a rematch - which he is expected to do - and is outsmarted again.
Canelo couldn't handle Bivol's stinging jab, aggression and clever defence in Las Vegas
He wants to prove that he could step in the ring with almost anyone and come out on top, which means avoiding Bivol simply isn't an option.
His promoter Eddie Hearn admitted his fighter was 'handicapping himself' to show his quality and said he would almost certainly go into a second fight with the Russian - calling it 'the biggest fight in boxing'.
'I think Canelo against Dmitry Bivol (in a rematch) is probably the biggest fight in boxing right now,' he said after the fight. 'But it's going to be down to Canelo, and obviously we'll speak to Dmitrii and (manager) Vadim (Kornilov), but I can't see (Canelo) not wanting to accept the challenge.'
'I said in the build-up, it's like Canelo wants to handicap himself and fight these big, great champions to test himself, and tonight it was maybe a bridge too far against a great light heavyweight world champion. But knowing Saul, I would think he would only want one fight, which is the rematch with Dmitry Bivol.'
Even Bivol knows how much he ripped up the script and wrecked Canelo's next career move after the fight, issuing an apology to Hearn.
The 31-year-old is intent on activating the rematch clause and said: 'This doesn't end like this'
'Sorry I broke your plans with Gennady Golovkin.'
Canelo's old dance partner Golovkin will definitely be disappointed for sure after his money-spinning trilogy with the
