sport news How Gennady Golovkin can exploit Canelo's weaknesses that Dmitry Bivol exposed? trends now

No fighter is invincible. But heading into 2022, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez looked pretty close to it. After being outclassed by Floyd Mayweather back in 2013, the popular Mexican had gone 16 fights unbeaten.

He had just put together a run of wins that had seen him overcome Sergey Kovalev up at light-heavyweight to become a four-weight world champion, before coming back down to 12 stone and beating Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant in the space of 11 months to clean out the super-middleweight division. 

At 31, he appeared to be at the peak of his powers, and almost unstoppable.

Then it all went wrong against Dmitry Bivol in May. Canelo went back up to light-heavyweight to challenge himself against the Russian, but came off a distant second best, despite the scorecards suggesting that the fight was a close affair.

In one night, his aura of invincibility was gone. Bivol made a mockery of the pre-fight odds, which had Canelo as the clear favourite. 

Now, four months on from that humbling loss, Canelo is set to get back into the ring for his trilogy bout with Gennady Golovkin. The first two fights have been gripping contests, with their first meeting ending in a controversial draw, prior to Canelo winning their second via a razor-thin majority decision.

Golovkin can feel hard done by to have not got the verdict on either occasion, but finally has the chance to settle the score with his old rival. Can he learn anything from Bivol's approach to take into the fight?

Sportsmail takes a look at the weaknesses Bivol exposed, which Golovkin could potentially exploit ahead of what promises to be a must-watch showdown in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Bivol managed to establish his jab early on against Canelo, and he mixed up his use of it well.

At times he was just pawing with the shot to get his range, while he also turned it into a snappier, more damaging punch as he grew in confidence.

By doing this, he kept Canelo occupied and off-balance, making it difficult for him to rip home his punishing counter punches.

Golovkin does not have the height or reach of Bivol, but he has shown that he possesses one of the best jabs in the business.

Golovkin's jab is a thudding one and helps him stamp his authority on a fight. The 40-year-old has become renowned for his chopping hooks, but his jab should not be underestimated.

It was the shot that gave him the upper hand against Canelo in their first fight, and arguably should have seen him emerge victorious.

He also used it very effectively against the big-punching David Lemieux back in 2015 as he outboxed and then stopped the Canadian inside eight rounds.

His jab was not as potent when he met Canelo for the second time, but Bivol showed that it can be utilised to put rounds in the bank, suggesting that Golovkin should look to bring his jab into play as early as possible to boost his chances of victory.

Bivol was the clear winner against Canelo, but the Mexican still had his moments of success.

In the third round, Canelo threatened to find his rhythm as he landed a couple of hooks around the side of the gloves, and managed to penetrate Bivol's defence with an uppercut.

Yet Bivol answered back. He put together an eye-catching combination to push Canelo back towards the ropes as he held his own and refused to be bullied.

This trend continued through the fight -

read more from dailymail.....