“Canelo is wearing himself out in the gym” – José Benavidez Sr. feels that Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez has been showing his decline since the fight with Caleb Plant, and the work in the gym is taking its toll on Canelo.
If Canelo accepts a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, Jose Sr thinks he might be stopped.
“I believe that if Canelo accepts a fight with Bivol at 175 pounds, I dare to say that Bivol can stop him”, Benavidez Sr told IZQUIERDAZO. “In the final rounds”.
Benavidez sees a decline in Canelo that, in his view, started to be evident in the fight with Caleb Plant in November 2021.
“If we pay attention, and call me crazy, but we haven’t seen the same Canelo since the fight with Plant”, Benavidez pointed out.
That decline, according to Benavidez, is because of a combination of Canelo’s high activity and natural aging.
“Canelo has been decalibrating little by little”, Benavidez explained. “He has done a great job, he has been very active, but he has not had the time to rest. And age has been accumulating as well. I believe that, little by little, Canelo is wearing himself out in the gym. Since the fight with Plant, I have seen him decline, little by little, until these fights (with Bivol and GGG)”.
Jose Benavidez Sr feels that Canelo’s retirement might be close
“His body is not responding in the same way”, Jose said. “Call me crazy, but that body (Canelo’s) has many, many miles traveled. At this moment he is the best pound for pound, but I say that maybe his retirement might be something very close. His body doesn’t have the same quickness, the same strength, his reflexes are not the same anymore”.
That is the reason why Canelo doesn’t want to fight his son David Benavidez.
“Why facing the Mexican monster that is David Benavidez?”, Jose Sr asks himself. “That is why I say that (Canelo’s) body, his youth and everything, are not there anymore”.