Trainer Joe Diaz says Canelo Alvarez won’t fight David Benavidez for the same reason he won’t rematch WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
Diaz thinks Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) knows he can’t beat Bivol, so he’s going to cut corners and fight other guys. In the case of Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), he knows it would be a tough fight for him, so he won’t bother.
Of course, Benavidez is doing some avoiding of his own, swerving WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell, taking easier opposition, and complaining Canelo won’t fight him.
Any argument that Benavidez has of deserving a fight with Canelo goes out the window when you note that he won’t face Morrell and his resume only has two names: Caleb Plant and 35-year-old Demetrius Andrade.
Canelo could fight Jaime Munguia next in May, and it’s still unknown who he’ll fight in September.
The 26-year-old Benavidez, a fighter with the size of a full-blown cruiserweight but is young enough to still drain down to make 168, believes Canelo is waiting him out until he can no longer meltdown to compete against smaller opposition at super middleweight.
Although Benavidez insists he’ll be able to stay at 168 as long as needed for him to achieve his goal of fighting & beating Canelo, he might not have any choice.
If Benavidez continues to be avoided for much longer by Canelo, he will either miss weight or lose to one of the super middleweights while fighting in a drained state.
Yeah, he can beat an old, inactive fighter like Andrade or a previously knocked-out Plant, but can a weight-drained Benavidez beat a good super middleweight like Morrell? Probably not, which is likely why he wants nothing to do with him.
Benavidez will find it difficult to get Canelo fight
“With that kind of performance, it’s going to be harder,” said trainer Joel Diaz to Fighthype on whether David Benavidez will be able to get the fight with Canelo Alvarez.
“Canelo is a strong fighter, but when he fought John Ryder, he didn’t look too good because Ryder was an opponent for six or seven rounds. Facing a David Benavidez who keeps coming, strong, and big, it’s going to be tough for Canelo to give Benavidez the opportunity.”
The weight would obviously be the problem for Canelo against Benavidez. If Canelo is outweighed by 20 lbs on the night of the fight by Benavidez, that would make things difficult for him.
Of course, with Canelo being the A-side, he could make things fair by putting in a rehydration clause of five to seven pounds and sticking the secondary weigh-in at 7:00 p.m. on the night of the fight.
If a $15 million per pound penalty on the rehydration clause, that would prevent Benavidez from blowing it off and just eating the fine, knowing that he’d still make loads of dough and set himself up for a rematch if he wins.
“For example, Dmitry Bivol. After the Bivol fight, we were expecting Canelo to say, ‘As a Mexican that I am, let’s run it back. Let’s do it again and prove to the people that I can beat this guy,’ but he never did,” said Diaz.
“What he did was he went around and cut corners. He avoided to this day. He keeps avoiding Dmitry Bivol. Well, it’s understandable, right? he knows he can’t beat him. At 168 or 175, he will not beat Dmitry Bivol, so he’s the last one on his list.”
You can understand Canelo’s reluctance to fight Bivol again because it was so one-sided that he has to know it would be pointless to rematch him again.
By the same token, you’re not hearing Bivol volunteer to go up to cruiserweight to take on IBF champion Jai Opetaia (23-0, 18 KOs), as that would be a step too far for him. Canelo shouldn’t be asked to do something that Bivol wouldn’t do himself by going up in weight to fight a much bigger and stronger fighter.
“Now, after these kinds of performances from Benavidez, it’s going to be hard for Benavidez to get Canelo,” said Diaz. “I also think by Benavidez beating Demetrius Andrade was great. You could tell the difference in size. Benavidez is too big for Demetrius.
“Demetrius Andrade, the best of him, was at 154, and there wasn’t a lot of activity because a lot of fighters avoided him because he’s a great fighter. He moved to 160 to see if he was lucky enough to get some activity. Very minimum. So, he said, ‘We’ll go to 168 and see what happens.'”
Of course, Benavidez was too big for Andrade. It looked like a cruiserweight fighting middleweight the night of their fight. You could tell as soon as the two fighters walked inside the ring, Benavidez would be too big for Andrade.
“I’m not taking credit from Benavidez. He’s a great fighter. Demetrius Andrade is a great, great fighter, but I just think the size difference was a big factor that night,” said Joel.
Canelo vs. Benavidez is 50-50
“Right now, it’s a 50-50 fight,” said Diaz on his thoughts on a Canelo vs. Benavidez clash. “Before, I thought Canelo would break Benavidez down with body shots because Canelo is pretty solid, but after his last performance by Benavidez, he has been proving himself; it’s different.”
It’s a 50-50 fight between Canelo & Benavdiez without a rehydration clause. If Canelo puts a strict rehydration clause in the contract to prevent Benavidez from rehydrating to 190 to 200 lbs and makes the secondary weight check as late in the evening on the night of the fight as possible, the odds of him winning go away up.
“I don’t know. Honestly, it’s a hard fight to predict on both ends. Honestly, it’s a 50-50 fight. Whoever is hungrier that night, is going to be the winner,” said Diaz.
“Jaime Munguia is a young fighter, who was getting beat by [Sergiy] Derevyanchenko in his last fight, I thought he was losing the whole fight. The only thing that saved the fight was a body shot [in the twelfth round last June]. I just think Canelo will hurt Munguia.
“It’s an easier fight. There’s your answer,” said Diaz on his thoughts about Canelo possibly facing Jaime Munguia next May rather than Benavidez. “Why take Benavidez when you can take an easier fight against Munguia?
“I’m not saying Munguia is an easy fight, but Munguia is more of a risk-taker, but his defense is not that great. He gets hit with everything. I think Canelo is too much for Munguia. Munguia is not ready for Canelo yet,” said Diaz.
Canelo would make easy work of Munguia, and the match would need to be stopped at some point to save the young Mexican fighter.
Munguia obviously has no chance of beating Canelo, and he arguably lost his last fight against Sergiy Derevyachenko. That performance showed how limited Munguia is, and it’s not even a fair fight for him to face Canelo.
Ideally, Munguia should prove himself by fighting David Morrell. If he can win that fight, he deserves a fight with Canelo. The holds for Benavidez. He should prove himself against Morrell, Bivol & Beterbiev if he wants Canelo.
