Trainer says timing passed at 168 as Benavidez moves up, closing door on long-discussed clash
Eddy Reynoso says a fight between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez will not happen. He pointed to missed timing at 168 pounds and Benavidez’s move up in weight as the reasons.
Canelo’s trainer and manager, Eddy Reynoso, said there is no path back to the matchup after Benavidez moved beyond super middleweight.
“That fight against Benavidez is done. There was a time when that fight could have been made at 168, and it didn’t happen, so it’s done,” Reynoso said to the Ring. “Benavidez is now fighting at cruiserweight. There is a better chance for Benavidez to fight Oleksandr Usyk than there is to fight Canelo.”
That is the strongest public dismissal yet of a fight that hung over the 168-pound division for years. Benavidez spent multiple seasons pressing for the bout while building his standing as the leading threat in the class. The fight never materialized, and he has since moved up in weight.
Reynoso’s comments also suggest Canelo’s next stretch will focus on current super middleweight options rather than revisiting old demands. He said Alvarez plans to remain at 168 pounds, where names such as Christian Mbilli, Osleys Iglesias, and other titleholders are available.
For years, many fans treated Benavidez as the unfinished business on Canelo’s record. Reynoso is now framing it as a chapter that closed when the timing was there and passed without agreement. Once camps start speaking that plainly, those fights rarely come back.’
Benavidez had held the WBC interim champion and the mandatory challenger for what felt like an eternity, and the interest from Canelo’s side remained at a consistent zero.
By presenting this as a closed chapter due to Benavidez’s departure, Reynoso is shifting the blame from Canelo didn’t want it to the divisions no longer aligning. It allows them to promote fights against Jose Armando Resendiz or Hamzah Sheeraz without the Benavidez question looming over every press conference.