Dmitry Bivol produced a punch perfect display to cause a massive upset and claim a unanimous points victory over Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Bivol, the WBA light heavyweight champion, was awarded the decision after earning a 115-113 points win on all three judges scorecards to improve his professional record to 20-0 with 11 knockouts.
It was only the second defeat of Canelo's remarkable career and first since a majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr back in 2013. Between then and now, the Mexican had won 16 of 17 fights - a draw with Gennady Golovkin the only blemish - and unified the super middleweight division.
He had fought at light heavyweight before, stopping Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round to win the WBO 175-pound title in November 2019.
But the step up to face Bivol proved a step too far on the night for Canelo, who struggled to break down the guard of the Russian champion and was visibly fatigued by the end of the bout.
"He hurt my arm," Bivol said, displaying a bruised upper arm that absorbed a string of punches. "I felt his power, you can see on my arm. He beat my arm up, but not my head."
While Alvarez struggled to find a way to trouble Bivol, the Russian found plenty of success throughout the bout at T-Mobile Arena, using his size and reach advantage to consistently land his shots.
"I prove myself today, I'm the best (in the division)," Bivol said. "I'm the best in my division and I keep this belt. He's a great champion, I respect him and all his team. If you don't believe in yourself what do you do? You achieve nothing. I believe and my team believed in me."
It was a massive disappointment for the pro-Alvarez crowd,, who were pulling for a Mexican victory on the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend.
Bivol said the crowd's partisan cheers whenever Alvarez seemed to be gaining ground gave him "more energy."
“Doesn’t matter which one, first or second, doesn’t matter to me — I just wanted this fight,” Bivol said of the ring entrance. “Doesn’t matter which sound he has, which sound I have, how he went in. And when he was going to the ring, and I heard the crowd, I really enjoyed how the crowd was yelling.”
Alvarez landed a big uppercut to Bivol's chin to end the fourth round, but his aggressive start to the fifth yielded little as Bivol turned the tables with a big flurry in the middle of the round and closed with a punishing left hand.
Bivol fought a disciplined fight, keying a steady attack with a piston-like jab that opened the door for powerful combinations.
Alvarez was put on the defensive, and the naturally lighter fighter couldn't find a way to respond. By the seventh round his face was bruised, his feet looked slow and as the fight wore on his punches lacked their usual power.
When a weary Alvarez ducked his head under Bivol's arm in the 11th round, the Russian leaned over and let himself be lifted off the ground.
Alvarez tried to pour it on in the 12th, but his combinations made little impression on the remorseless Bivol.
"He's a very good fighter," Alvarez said. "He comes in, goes out. He managed his distance really well. That's boxing. He's a great champion. I lost. He won."
Although he had no complaint with the decision, Alvarez said he wanted a rematch.
"Of course, I want the rematch," Alvarez said. "This doesn't end here."
Bivol said he was happy to face Alvarez again, stating: "Rematch? No problem. Let's talk about that. I want respect as the champion."
The shock loss shouldn't impact Alvarez's plans for a trilogy bout with Gennady Golovkin, with the long-time rivals expected to meet at middleweight or super-middleweight, although the fight could be pushed back from its planned September date if a rematch with Bivol is arranged.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
The years Ramadan fell in May
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
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