Dmitry Bivol to those who bet on him: Congratulations, Guys!

LAS VEGAS – Dmitry Bivol had a special message for his supporters.

The unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion congratulated those who were ballsy enough to bet on him in his 12-round, 175-pound world title fight against Canelo Alvarez at T-Mobile Arena. When the bell rang, Guadalajara’s Alvarez (-550) was more than a 5-1 favorite over Russia’s Bivol (+400) at the opening bell, per the BETMGM Sportsbook.

Although Alvarez entered the fight as boxing’s pound-for-pound king and hadn’t taken a loss in 16 fights, Bivol dominated from the onset, using his size, speed, timing, and combinations to retain his belt for the fourth time. It was a coming-out party for the 31-year-old, who solidified his spot as one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound talents.

Bivol was not to be denied, despite judges Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti, and Steve Weisfeld giving Alvarez the first four rounds, albeit most ringside had the exact opposite.

It worked out for Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs), who won by scores of 115-113 on all three scorecards. Alvarez lost for the first time since Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat him by majority (should have been unanimous) decision in their 12-round, junior middleweight championship match in September 2013 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I have a message for people who bet on me today, you know, who won,” Bivol said during the post-fight press conference. “Congratulations, guys!”

Bivol expected people to bet against him because Alvarez is the bigger star but conveyed no animosity to those that did.

“But [people] who didn’t believe in me, it’s just their opinion, and I appreciate them,” Bivol said. “But they bet on Canelo; they believed in Canelo. It’s normal, you know? It’s normal. It’s no problem.

“I know how people love Canelo,” Bivol said. “And it’s normal, you know? He’s really the biggest fighter in the world. He’s a champion [in] four weight classes. He has four belts [in the super middleweight division]. Of course, all people [are] on his side. No problem for me.”

Although Alvarez stated that he plans to exercise his contractual right to a rematch with Bivol, he admitted his natural and most comfortable weight is 168 pounds.

Bivol also toyed with moving down in weight to challenge Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight titles.

“His natural size is for less weight, and mine, too. Maybe next [we will] fight for [the undisputed] belts in his division.”