Random thoughts: Canelo deserves credit for facing Bivol, but GGG should be next

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Tons of boxing random thoughts…

I give Canelo Alvarez all the credit in the world for taking such a risky fight against Dmitry Bivol, and I am not just saying it was a gamble in retrospect.

From the time the fight was made I said it was dangerous. I also viewed it as the one fight he could pick from that would bring him the most risk for the least reward because Bivol was not that well known, meaning Canelo would not get huge credit for winning but would get a lot of grief from some if he lost.

Canelo dared to be great but came up short and lost. But just because he lost for only the second time in his career — and first since a decision to Floyd Mayweather nine years ago — doesn’t mean anyone should think less of him. When many fighters look for easy fights or to protect their record, Canelo has never been like that. He has consistently sought out challenges and Bivol presented a big one, and he knew it. Don’t praise a fighter for taking a risk and then dump on them if they lose.

Now, Canelo has a choice to make — either invoke his immediate rematch right or return to super middleweight and defend the undisputed title in a third fight with Gennadiy Golovkin that was already agreed to pending a win over Bivol.