Craig Richards not surprised Dmitry Bivol beat Canelo Alvarez with 'frustrated' claim

Craig Richards has admitted he wasn’t surprised that Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez lost to Dmitry Bivol earlier this month as he allowed himself to get ‘frustrated’.

Canelo Alvarez and his great rival Gennady Golovkin were on a collision course to meet in a blockbuster trilogy fight in September.

But it will now most likely be a second meeting between Canelo and the unbeaten Russian after Bivol beat the Mexican superstar on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Canelo, who had previously only lost to Floyd Mayweather prior to that, amazingly withstood Bivol’s power despite physically being the much smaller man in the ring.

But Russian Bivol was just too strong for challenger Canelo and retained his WBA light heavyweight title via unanimous points decision.

The judges scored the fight 115–113 115–113 115–113.

Yet Richards, who was outpointed by Bivol in his first title defence last May, insisted that he saw it coming.

He told BoxingScene.com: “I said the day before he [Bivol]’s got very fast feet, very fast hands and very good defence and I said if it goes to points I’d expect Bivol to get the nod.

“Though, being in Vegas and Cinco de Mayo, if it does go to points it depends if the judges give it to him.

“Because Bivol’s hands are rapid and his defence is very tight and he’s got very good feet.

“His [Canelo’s] feet weren’t quick enough, he was loading up shots, Bivol was throwing combinations and when he was trying to land and couldn’t get through the defence, he just got frustrated and to the point that he got disheartened.

“When we cross paths again, it’s not personal, I have to beat him, but first and foremost let’s just focus on May 21st.

“I neutralized him because I’ve got good feet and a good jab as well.

“So I