Rick Glaser predicts that Canelo Alvarez will be fighting Jaime Munguia & Terence Crawford in 2024 and NOT David Benavidez.
Glaser says Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) makes sense for Canelo because he brings a different audience than Benavidez, who is pooling from the same Mexican fan base as Alvarez. That means fewer PPV buys if Canelo fights Benavidez than if he were to face Crawford.
It’ll probably raise Jose Benavidez Sr’s blood pressure sky-high seeing Crawford get the Canelo mega-money fight, but this is what happens when you let your son, David, fight stewbums his entire carer.
If the ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez had taken the hard path like Crawford, he’d be getting the fight he wants in 2024 against Canelo, but that’s not the case.
He feels that Canelo can make more money fighting the highly popular Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs), who has a huge following in Mexico, than he can against Benavidez.
Who Benavidez should fight to get Canelo payday
- David Morrell
- Artur Beterbiev
- Dmitry Bivol
- Jermall Charlo
- Diego Pacheco
- Edgar Berlanga
- Jaime Munguia
The casual boxing fans don’t know who the 26-year-old Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is because he hasn’t fought enough well-known opponents during his long ten-year professional career.
Benavidez’s only two semi-notable opponents on his decade-long career are 35-year-old Demetrius Andrade and Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant. Casuals have never heard of Andrade, and they only Plant as the guy that Canelo knocked out in 2021.
If Benavidez wants to one day get a fight with Canelo, he’s going to need to keep winning, but it’s crucial that he start taking risks with his career by fighting the opposition that will raise his stature in boxing.
It doesn’t help Benavidez if he’s facing old guys like Andrade while avoiding Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, and David Morrell.
If Benavidez and his management think they’re going to take the backdoor method to a fight with Canelo by fighting over-the-hill soft touches like Andrade and David Lemieux to get the payday, they’re obviously kidding themselves.
Prediction: Canelo will fight Munguia & Crawford in 2024
“There are other guys he can fight that he’ll make a lot of money without taking the risk, starting with Munguia, which is a risk, and Crawford is a risk, but not the risk Benavidez would be,” said Rick Glaser to the War a Week Radio Network on why Canelo Alvarez won’t fight David Benavidez in 2024.
It wouldn’t be a problem for Canelo to fight Benavidez if the guy had a large enough following it to be worthwhile for him to give the needy fighter a payday.
Moreover, Benavidez’s huge cruiserweight-sized frame makes it not worthwhile for Canelo because he’s clearly fighting out of his normal weight class.
If Canelo were to fight Benavidez, there would have to be a rehydration clause thrown in to ensure that he doesn’t rehydrate to the 190s on the night of the fight. It’s no secret that young fighters can dehydrate dramatic amounts of weight the week of a fight and then quickly rehydrate 20+ lbs after the weigh-in to have a big-size advantage.
Fighters can do that when they’re in their mid-20s like Benavidez, but can no longer pull that tactic off when they hit their 30s.
“I think Canelo would beat Benavidez, but it’s still wear & tear. There will still be heavy artillery coming his way,” said Glaser. “There will be with Munguia, but not as much. I think it’s going to be Munguia and Crawford,” said Glaser when asked who Canelo will fight in 2024 to finish out his remaining two fights with PBC.
“He [Canelo] makes the most amount of money,” said Glaser on why Canelo will fight Munguia & Crawford rather than Benavidez. “They don’t have to pay Munguia what they’d have to pay Benavidez, and Crawford brings a different audience.
“Two Mexicans fighting each other [Canelo & Benavidez], it’s the same audience. Now you have two different audiences watching. That’s it. He’s [Munguia] very popular [in Mexico], and that’s the reason [Canelo wants to fight him].
“They’re not going to fight, but I believe Canelo would beat him, yes,” said Glaser about him believing that Canelo would beat Benavidez. “This is how I see the fight playing out. I think David Benavidez has lousy defense, and he covers up to the head too much to leave himself open to body shots.
“It’s going to slow him down, and he’s not going to come in low like he did against Andrade and these other guys because he’s not getting hit with a Canelo. Once Canelo lays the lumber on him, it’s a whole different ballgame,” said Glaser.
Alvarez is not shot
“Canelo’s not shot or anything like that. He’s not what he was,” said Glaser. “He’s a tad slower, but he’s still got his chin. He’s still got his punching power. He’s not pushing his punches. A guy that is completely shot, they push their punches, and their legs are way too far apart, and they have no punch resistance.”
Obviously, Canelo is still fighting on a high level, as we saw in his fight with Jermell Charlo last September. The way that Canelo dominated the best fighter in the 154-lb division, Charlo, was out of this world good.
“He’s [Canelo] a little on the back nine, but barely on the back nine,” said Glaser. “[John] Ryder is a guy that is one of the most underrated fighters in the whole world. Forget about super middleweights. Did you know that he won two eliminators to become the mandatory?
“He beat Danny Jacobs, and then he beat Zach Parker. He beat two good fighters to get there. It wasn’t just handed to him [to challenge Canelo]. He’s a very, very underrated fighter, and has got a great chin. The problem with him is he doesn’t get soft touches.”
John Ryder was a respectable opponent for Canelo to fight last May, and he made it competitive, even though it was a mismatch in the end. Canelo took a lot of heat for fighting Ryder, as some fans were grumbling about how he should have fought Benavidez.
But why would he fight Benavidez when he’d been fighting soft opposition his entire career, like David Lemieux, and not taking risks? If Benavidez won’t even take the risk to fight David Morrell, why should Canelo bother with him?
“Bivol’s ring IQ is too high and David Benavidez’s is too low,” said Glaser when asked if it’s a good idea for Benavidez to go up to 175 to challenge Dmitry Bivol for his WBA light heavyweight title next.
“Fighters won’t get as much money as they used to get from Haymon,” said Glaser when asked how things will change in 2024 for boxing. “These guys will have to fight for a lot less. Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia weren’t fighting for the dollars they were offered before. Now, a guy, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis,’ was getting big money from Showtime. He’s going to get s*** now.
“His feet, his jab, and his ring IQ, Bivol has got a great chin, and he’s always in 1000% great shape. Benavidez has got no prayer in that fight. Zero. If Beterbiev finishes off Callum Smith [on January 13th], they’re going to make Bivol and Beterbiev in the Middle East in Saudi Arabia,” said Glaser.
