Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr says Canelo Alvarez is a worn out fighter at the end of his career and will never fight the ‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) to pass the baton to him before he retires from the sport.
It doesn’t look like Canelo will be doing Benavidez any favors by giving him a title shot. More than likely, Canelo will either vacate his WBC title or lose it to Dmitry Bivol in their rematch if the contest takes place at 168 for the undisputed championship he holds.
Jose Sr points out that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) has been fighting since he was 16, and he’s starting to break down physically with hand and knee problems. He sees the 32-year-old former four-division world champion Canelo as being worn out.
In chronological age, Canelo isn’t old. In theory, he should be in the prime of his career, but he’s been a professional since 2005. Moreover, Canelo took a lot of punishment in his three fights with Gennadiy Golovkin, and his recent fights against Dmitry Bivol & Caleb Plant.
Canelo could extend his career if he moved back down to 160 because he doesn’t have the frame to fight the bigger 168-pounders like Benavidez, David Morrell, or Demetrius Andrade. It goes without saying that Canelo is too small to compete against light heavyweights like Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
“You’ve got to understand. Canelo started at 16 years old. He’s been super disciplined, the best of the best,” said Jose Benavidez Sr to Fight Hub TV. “We started seeing problems with his knees, and then it went, then it went to his other one, and now he fractured his hand.
“The fighters leave it all in training. Now, he’s 30-something, 32, 33, or something like that. He’s been in a lot of wars, a lot of fights. I think he’s worn. Even though his mind is telling him that he can still do it, we can see he’s not the same anymore.
“I think Caleb Plant looked really good against him because it was not the same. Canelo was there, moving. He maybe have underestimated him, but we saw what happened with Bivol. Caleb Plant was winning that fight [against Canelo]. All the rounds, he was winning.
“Until he got dropped, he got Canelo frustrated. I think Canelo is at the end of his career. He will never face the Mexican monster. He knows he’s young. He’d rather fight other fighters and never even pass the torch to a Mexican fighter. So that fight is out of the window; I don’t think it’s going to happen.
“I think he’s going to leave all the belts there, but he’s going to be criticized by the Mexican people. Why did he not fight the Mexican monster? Like I said, if he fights or not, we’re still focused. Right now, Caleb Plant is on our mind, and we’ll see what’s after that.
“Right now, our focus is on Caleb Plant. It’s a very hard fight. It’s a difficult fighter, and if David doesn’t cut the ring off and lets him get his confidence, we’re going to have a tough night,” said Jose Benavidez.