A commanding win over Gennady Golovkin has seen Canelo Alvarez finally put that rivalry to rest five years after the first bout.

The Mexican has achieved plenty during that five-year period, but the discussions around a trilogy bout with GGG were always present, and it was pretty clear that fight remained on the agenda.

Now, though, for the first time in half a decade, Canelo's future can be written without the inclusion of Golovkin. While the Kazakh was open to a fourth clash, Canelo's attention will be focused elsewhere.

With the chapter with Golovkin ending, however, there is some uncertainty. Avenging his defeat against Dmitry Bivol is top of Canelo's agenda, which he made clear after Saturday's triumph in Las Vegas.

"Of course, everybody knows. We'll see, we'll see what happens in that fight," he said post-fight.

"It's very important for my legacy, for me, for my country, for my family, for everything. I will beat him."

A rematch with the Russian may be a way off, however, with Bivol set to face Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi on November 5 and potentially having further opponents lined up beyond that fight, as Eddie Hearn explained.

"The fact is, to fight Canelo Alvarez, Bivol might have to fight [Joshua] Buatsi and Zurdo [Ramirez]," Hearn said, via DAZN. "That fight's not a definite because we can't just wait until May. It's impossible, and there's so much risk in those fights."

WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev is also a possibility, with a unification bout likely to be appealing to Bivol if he can successfully defend his belts in November.

This may play into Canelo's hands, though, as he revealed after victory against Golovkin that he entered the fight with a wrist injury and could now take a year out to recover, with surgery on the cards.

"I need surgery. It was really bad, really bad. It's not broken, it's a meniscus, it's a wrist injury, not broken. It's ligaments, like a knee injury or something like that," he explained.

"I'm going to take the time my body needs. Last year I fought four times in 11 months, so that's why. But I need to take my time a little bit, maybe May, September, I need to take my time."

Canelo's absence may open the door for a rematch with Bivol late in 2023, while also having the potential to allow the middleweight division to develop, as there are few who could pose a meaningful challenge right now.

David Benavidez stands as the most likely challenger for Canelo's middleweight titles, unbeaten with 23 knockouts from 26 wins, while Jermall Charlo could be another contender – though he hasn't fought since 2021 and holds a title at 160 pounds.

Neither would be as appealing for Canelo as a rematch with Bivol, however, as he seeks revenge against only the second man to have beaten him in his professional career – the first being Floyd Mayweather in September 2013.

The growing trend of exhibition and celebrity boxing, where the likes of Jake Paul have made a wave, cannot be ruled out entirely for Canelo, but the 31-year-old would be unlikely to make such a move until he has had his shot at revenge against Bivol.

Canelo Alvarez confirmed he has his sights set on a rematch with Dmitry Bivol after convincingly handling the third fight of his trilogy against Gennadiy Golovkin on Saturday.

Alvarez took a unanimous decision on the scorecards, although two judges had things much closer than it looked to the naked eye, scoring it seven rounds to five for the Mexican, while the third judge had it eight-to-four.

In one of the most highly anticipated trilogies of this generation, the 40-year-old Golovkin had noticeably lost a step compared to the version of himself that arguably won both of the first two fights, although the first was scored as a draw and he lost a controversial majority decision in the second.

Alvarez is still very much in his prime at 32 years old, and he was physically dominant, boasting a clear speed advantage with his hands and his footwork as he seemingly took each of the first eight rounds without much trouble.

From that point on Alvarez took his foot off the pedal, coasting through the championship rounds while avoiding any dangerous exchanges as he was convinced he had already done enough to bank the decision.

Speaking after his win, Alvarez thanked Golovkin for his part in what will go down as some of the richest fights since the end of the Floyd Mayweather era, with the two competitors splitting a guaranteed $65million for Saturday's outing, and that is before adding in their pay-per-view cuts.

"Thank you so much my friend, thank you Golovkin," he said. "We gave the fans three good fights – thank you for everything.

"Thank you all so much for your support. I've gone through some very difficult things in my life, and the only thing you can do is try to continue moving forward.

"I've gone through difficult times recently with my defeat, and I've actually shown that defeats are great, because it enables you to come back and show humility.

"[Golovkin] is a really good fighter – he's a great fighter, and that's why we're here. I'm glad to share the ring with him, and I'm going to keep moving forward to keep my legacy going strong."

His recent defeat against Bivol was the only loss of Alvarez's career other than his defeat against Floyd Mayweather when he was just 23 years old back in 2013.

After starting his championship-level career at super welterweight (154lbs), Alvarez has continued to rise through the weight classes in search of more world titles.

He jumped up to middleweight (160lbs) in 2015 to defeat Miguel Cotto, before going up again to super middleweight (168lbs) – where he remains now – to dethrone Rocky Fielding in 2018.

In 2019 he made the decision to push things even further, challenging Sergey Kovalev for the light heavyweight title (175lbs), where he struggled with the significant size disadvantage, but came from behind to score a knockout win in the 11th round.

Bivol was his second crack at light heavyweight, and it went very similar to his first try, except this time he could not find a fight-changing blow through 12 rounds of impressive action from the bigger, longer, stronger Bivol.

Despite what was a surprisingly convincing loss, Alvarez made it clear he is determined to avenge the defeat, putting emphasis on the legacy he hopes to leave.

"It's very important for my legacy, for me," he said. "For my pride, for my country, for my family, for everything.

"It's very important... I will beat him."

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez is set to announce a September trilogy fight against Gennadiy Golovkin, meaning his rematch with Dmitry Bivol must wait.

Alvarez suffered only the second defeat of his professional career against Bivol this month after stepping up to light heavyweight.

The Mexican has a rematch option, which he intends to activate, but first will face Golovkin for a third time at super middleweight, he told ESPN.

"We already had that contract [with Golovkin], that agreement, so we have to continue what we started," he said.

"I think those are the two biggest fights in boxing, the fight with Golovkin and the rematch with Bivol.

"Unfortunately, we lost [to Bivol], but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try again. The important thing here is perseverance and we're going to do it again.

"What is certain is that we are going to return in September. And in the coming days, we are going to announce the fight."

A controversial split draw between Alvarez and Golovkin in September 2017 was followed by a Canelo win a year later. That remains the sole defeat of Golovkin's career.

Floyd Mayweather was celebrating another Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez defeat in Las Vegas on Saturday after Dmitry Bivol's victory earned him $42,500.

Russian Bivol retained his WBA light heavyweight title at the T-Mobile Arena, claiming the scalp of the Mexican superstar with a unanimous decision victory.

Super-middleweight king Canelo suffered only the second loss of his illustrious career stepping up in weight, with all three judges scoring the bout at 115-113 in favour of Bivol.

Mayweather consigned Canelo, rated as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, to the only other defeat of his professional career at the T-Mobile Arena nine years ago.

The retired American legend cashed in on the 31-year-old's second defeat, placing a $10,000 bet on Bivol to come out on top for a return of $52,500.

Mayweather posted a picture of his winning betting slip on Instagram and wrote: "Easy pick up."

Alvarez confirmed he would exercise his rematch clause.

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez accepted the result of his unanimous decision defeat to Dmitry Bivol, hailing his opponent as a "great champion" after just the second loss of his career.

The Mexican came up short of claiming the WBA light heavyweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday against the Russian, who won 115-113 on all three scorecards after a 12-round bout.

His only other defeat in 61 fights coming against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013, Alvarez was left in an unfamiliar position.

But speaking afterwards, the 31-year-old was congratulatory of Bivol, while vowing to bounce back even stronger down the line.

"You have to accept it, it's boxing," Alvarez said. "He's a great champion. Sometimes in boxing you win and lose and I'm not giving excuses. I lost and he won."

On the possibility of whether he desired a rematch, he added: "Yeah, of course I do. "This doesn't end like this."

"This doesn't end in this way, I'm a very competitive person, I've got many years ahead of me, and I'm gonna come back stronger.

“We want the rematch, and we want to do much better in the rematch. I'm very proud and competitive. I've gone up and fought at 175lbs.

"I've gone out of my comfort zone to fight at a weight that's not mine, there's no shame in that. I'm looking for challenges that others would be scared to take on because they might lose.”

Alvarez's loss means he now moves to 57-2-2, while Bivol extends his unbeaten record to 20-0.

Dmitry Bivol won in a unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez to retain his WBA light heavyweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Using his height and longer reach to his advantage, the Kyrgyz-born Russian landed the cleaner and harder shots against Alvarez in a clinical display.

All three judges handed down scores of 115-113 in Bivol's favour despite what was largely a non-competitive fight.

Alvarez confirmed he would exercise his rematch clause and Bivol took no issue, believing the win solidifies his status in the division.

"No problem," Bivol said via translator post-fight. "I took this fight because I just wanted to get the opportunity and I appreciate this opportunity.

"I didn't fight for anything except getting the fight.

"I'm ready for the rematch, I just want to make sure that I can be treated like the champion now."

Bivol moved to 20-0 with his ninth consecutive title defence, while it marks the second official defeat of Alvarez's career in his return to light heavyweight following 2013's majority-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather.

Dmitry Bivol accepts he may not win any popularity contests in Las Vegas on Saturday night, but the Russian believes he can triumph in the ring against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

The WBA light heavyweight belt will be on the line at the T-Mobile Arena when the fighters, both 31, go head to head in Sin City.

Mexican superstar Canelo (57-1-2) can expect strong support, while Bivol may find it in short supply.

This is a fight that some feel should not be happening, with Wladimir Klitschko having told the BBC in March that Bivol should be "forbidden from fighting in America", due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Klitschko's brother, Vitali, is mayor of Kyiv.

The WBC, IBF and IBO have said they will not sanction fights that feature boxers from Russia or Belarus, but the WBA is not taking the same stance.

Even without that factor hanging over the fight, Bivol would reasonably expect Canelo to have comfortably the greater support this weekend, given his status as a regular Vegas venue filler.

Bivol (19-0) is a 31-year-old who aligns himself just as closely to Kyrgyzstan as he does to Russia, and he is the belt holder.

While Canelo is dominant at super middleweight, stepping up from the 168lbs division to 175lbs brings with it its own challenges. He is targeting undisputed champion status in the division.

Canelo told Stats Perform: "I feel good, I feel great. Like always, I trained 100 per cent. I'm ready for Saturday.

"I feel I am at my best in 168lbs. But I'm always around 180lbs in my normal life. So I feel good. It's a challenge for me, but in this period I would love to be undisputed in 175lbs too."

Bivol will be taking on a fighter widely regarded as the pound-for-pound number one, so to beat Canelo would be the ultimate scalp.

"I don't think about whether I will be the best or something else, I just have to beat him," Bivol told Stats Perform. "I just believe in my skills, and we will see what will happens after, and then we will think about who's the best."

Should he prevail, Bivol will give greater thought about where that puts him in boxing's current pantheon.

"Of course it means I can be the best and I've realised my potential," he said. "That's what it means. We will be glad, but I don't think about the result now. I'm only thinking about the fight and not the result."

Canelo is expected to tackle Gennady Golovkin later in the year, completing a trilogy.

His status is such that Bivol is admiring of the Mexican, albeit determined to send him to the canvas. 

"He's the most popular of my opponents, I can 100 per cent say, this is one of the most known opponents," Bivol said.

BIvol is braced for the rare experience of not being a fight favourite on Saturday night, and said: "It's motivated me, and it's a new challenge for me."