Canelo Alvarez has slammed the door shut on the fight that the boxing world wants to see from him against David Benavidez for his next match after this Saturday’s contest against John Ryder in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) says his “short-term” goal is to face WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) next in September after he defends his undisputed super middleweight championship against Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) this Saturday, May 6th on DAZN PPV at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.
In an interview this week, Canelo was asked if he’d be willing to step it up by fighting his WBC mandatory challenger Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs), WBA ‘regular’ champion David Morrell Jr (9-0, 8 KOs) or Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) in 2024.
Rather than discussing the possibility of fighting one of these talents, Canelo clarified that he’s only considering his rematch with Bivol in September.
Fans see no point in Canelo fighting Bivol again because he was overmatched against him last May, appearing to lose 11 of 12 rounds. However, the Nevada judges that worked the fight scored identical 115-113 scores, which the fans disagreed with.
Unless Canelo can somehow get lucky to knock out Bivol or be given a controversial decision like in his first two fights with Gennadiy Golovkin, he will get beaten just as badly if not worse, in the rematch.
Currently, Canelo needs to focus on his fight with Ryder on Saturday because a win isn’t a foregone conclusion. Ryder has the style to win this fight, provided the judges score the contest sensibly.
“I fight with everybody. I’ve been doing a lot of things. I fight with everybody out there,” said Canelo Alvarez to the media when asked if he thinks it’s important for his legacy to fight David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, or David Morrell Jr in 2024.
“The first thing when [Gennadiy] Golovkin appeared in the boxing community, it’s the same thing right now as Benavidez and I did [eventually fight him after three years]. But right now, my short-term coal is a rematch with Bivol, and then we’ll see.
“You know, guys, I always fight with the best out there. It’s not that easy,” said Canelo when told that Benavidez wants to take the Mexican holidays away from him by being the one that fights on Cinco de Mayo and the Mexican Independence Day weekend.
“If you look at his numbers on pay-per-view [against Caleb Plant]. Saying it is easy, but it’s not that easy,” said Canelo.
