David Benavidez has a warning to Canelo Alvarez that his next possible opponent for May 7th fight, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, is highly dangerous and a stronger fighter than Jermall Charlo.
Bivol, 31, is expected to be the next opponent for Canelo as part of a two-fight deal from Matchroom. The deal still hasn’t been made official.
Benavidez says he’s sparred Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), and he rates his right-hand power high. However, he feels that Canelo Alvarez will be able to time Bivol after two or three rounds to counter him.
Canelo will be going up in weight to challenge Bivol for his 175lb title, and he might not be successful.
When Canelo went up to light heavyweight in 2019 to face then WBO champion Sergey Kovalev, he was facing a faded 36-year-old fighter, who mostly sparred and didn’t throw anything with power.
Bivol isn’t going to fight like that because he’s not shot, and he’s going to fight hard. He’ll want to win, and Canelo may find out the hard way that he doesn’t possess the size for the weight class.
Bivol dangerous for Canelo
“I think he’s a stronger fighter, a heavier puncher,” said David Benavidez to Fight Hub TV when asked if Bivol is a ‘trickier fighter’ for Canelo than Jermall Charlo.
“I’ve sparred Bivol, he’s a good fighter,” said Benavidez. “He has really heavy hands, but I think with Canelo, he’ll probably time him. When I sparred him, I kind of got his timing down. It was a good sparring.
“I feel like Canelo will kind of do the same, but he’s got to be careful about that right hand. Bivol has a great right hand. He probably has one of the strongest right hands I’ve ever felt, and he’s smart too.
“He goes in and he goes out and uses the ring,” said Benavidez about Bivol. “It’s a dangerous fight either way. I feel like he has more strength than Charlo, so it’s a dangerous fight.
“Once you catch his timing, you catch his timing, so I’m sure he [Canelo] won’t have a problem with that. I think the first couple of rounds will be tricky,” said Benavidez.
If Bivol beats Canelo, that’s bad news for Benavidez because a fight between him and the popular Mexican star might not ever happen if he gets picked off by the unbeaten WBA 175-lb champion.
Golovkin still powerful
“Sometimes these old fighters, they need that fight to really get to light that spark back,” said Benavidez about Gennady Golovkin being older now. “Bernard Hopkins at 40, everyone said he was done. The dude went until he was 50.
“You see Pacquiao against Marquez III, that one didn’t look good, and then the fourth one came out and it was one of the best ones I’ve seen in my life.
“The older fighter Marquez came back. A lot of people didn’t think he was going to win, but he came back and knocked Pacquiao out. So you can never count a fighter out, especially a fighter that has been knocking all his opponents out.
“Yes, he’s [Golovkin] been inactive and hasn’t looked the same, but the power still looks the same. So I think he just needs the spark back in there, and if he knew he was going to lose or had any chance of losing, I don’t think he would have took the fight.
“Golovkin is Golovkin. I still think he’s one of the best fighters. I don’t know,” said Benavidez when asked if he thinks he’ll ever fight Golovkin. “If I ever did, it would be a dream come true, and I would have no problems taking that fight. It’s a hard fight.
“I love Gennadiy, he’s a great person. He’s been one of the best people in boxing that I’ve met. He shows a lot of love, and I feel that’s why I am the way I am because he showed a lot of love to me and taught me a lot of stuff. So I feel like as a person, that’s the type of champion I want to be,” said Benavidez.
