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Mike Tyson Gives Canelo Alvarez Advice After Upset Loss to Dmitry Bivol

Paul Kasabian

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson provided his take on why Canelo Alvarez fell to Dmitry Bivol in a WBA light heavyweight title bout on Saturday.

In sum, Tyson said that Alvarez didn't use his jab effectively enough to win the bout, which ended with the undefeated Bivol (20-0) winning via unanimous decision.

Tyson said in part:

"I just think if Canelo was using his jab effectively, hard, the guy wouldn't have been able to come in because the guy was coming in because he wasn't worried about Canelo's jab. So he got more aggressive, and he got brave. If you're not jabbing with him, he has no defense. If he's not gonna jab, a guy's gonna walk right in on him, like he did. Next fight, use your jab, different fight."

The loss was just the second of Alvarez's professional career (57-2-2). Floyd Mayweather Jr., the retired and undefeated boxing champion, gave Alvarez his other loss in Sept. 2013.

DraftKings Sportsbook had Alvarez as a heavy -525 favorite ($525 to win $100), but Bivol clearly won the fight per the CompuBox Punch Stats (h/t Boxing Scene).

Tyson's point about the jab rings true in the stats. Alvarez landed only 10 jabs throughout the night, while Bivol had 46. Alvarez was unable to land a jab in the final two rounds despite 28 attempts.

Overall, Bivol landed an average of 13 punches per round, while Alvarez had seven.

Per CompuBox Punch Stats, Alvarez's 84 landed punches overall was a career-low for him in a 12-round fight.

Tyson also knows something about losing a championship bout as a heavy favorite after losing to 40-1 underdog Buster Douglas in Feb. 1990. That ended an incredible 39-month run as heavyweight champion for Tyson, who started his career with a 37-0 record.

As for Alvarez, he has a rematch clause in his contract, and he said post-match that he plans to activate it.

Although he lost the WBVA light heavyweight title belt, Alvarez still remains the undisputed super middleweight champion.

   

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