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By all accounts, a bout between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez would be an absolute banger.
As Alvarez crusaded through the super middleweight weight class and became the undisputed champion, Benavidez was forced to watch the fellow Mexican’s division stronghold from the sidelines.
Now in his ninth year as a pro, the crowd-thrilling knockout artist Benavidez is still seeking a career-defining fight, and he appears to be standing outside of the Alvarez picture looking in.
BoxingScene.com senior writer and columnist Keith Idec reported in May that TGB Promotions offered Alvarez $55 million to fight Benavidez, but Alvarez instead opted to face Dmitry Bivol.
Benavidez’s father and trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. has his theories on why Alvarez would never square off against his son.
“Let’s be honest. Canelo will never fight David. We know that. I don’t think that fight is going to happen. No way. It’s all excuses when they say he doesn’t deserve that fight and has nothing to offer. Canelo doesn’t want to fight him. And I understand. David is younger,” Benavidez Sr. told BoxingScene.com in an interview.
“Another bigger reason why he doesn’t want to fight David is that he doesn’t want another Mexican to take that win. He’ll fight anybody, but not a Mexican guy because if a Mexican beats him, they take all of his fame and position. If he fights someone else from another country, nothing happens.
“He doesn’t want to fight him now, and he won’t want to fight two or three years later when he’s older because he’s going to take a beating. David will be in his prime. But who knows. The more questions he hears about David, the madder he gets. Maybe he’ll wake up really mad one day and want to fight David. We would take that fight right away.”
Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) is a former two-time 168-pound titlist, but he’s twice let the belt slip out of his hands due to mishaps outside of the ring.
In Sept. 2018, he tested positive for benzoylegonine, the key ingredient found in cocaine, and he was stripped of his WBC super middleweight title.
He won the same title again in 2019 when he knocked out Anthony Dirrell, but he failed to defend it when he blew weight for his Aug. 2020 match with Roamer Angulo.
Benavidez’s self-inflicted foul cost him a shot at Alvarez, who wound up easily picking up the vacant belt en route to cleaning out the division in an 11-month span from 2020 to 2021.
Benavidez last fought and knocked out David Lemieux inside three rounds for the WBC’s interim 168-pound title.
After losing in a light heavyweight fight to Bivol in May, Alvarez will return to 168 pounds to defend his titles when faces Gennadiy Golovkin on Sept. 17.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.