Stephen Espinoza says the winner of the David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade fight in the fall will be a potential opponent for Canelo Alvarez’s contest in the first quarter of 2024 on Cinco de Mayo.
Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) has a tough fight on his hands first against the undefeated former two-division world champion Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) later this year, but he should win.
‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s popularity will soar if defeats Andrrade in impressive fashion, which will create massive pressure on Canelo to face him next May finally.
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) still needs to win his fight next month against Jermell Charlo on September 30.
That’s not going to be easy for Canelo because he struggled against John Ryder & 41-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin, and he was totally dominated by Dmitry Bivol last year. That loss was so bad that Canelo chose not to try and avenge the defeat to Bivol.
“There’s a financial commitment. PBC stepped, we stepped up, but part of it is really the opponents,” said Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza to iFL TV about why Canelo Alvarez chose to go in the direction of signing with Premier Boxing Champions.
“I got to give Canelo credit because he could have coasted through this last part of his career and taken in easy opponents for big money,” Espinoza continued.
“That’s not what he did. So I think a lot of the attraction [for Canelo] was getting access to Benavidez, the Charlos, [Demetrius] Andrade, and the second part of it is I I think and I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I think it’s clear that our platform is the biggest for pay-per-view in the U.S.
“We’ve been doing this for 37 years. We’ve got a machine, and we know how to market pay-per-views, and I think the combination of the best available opponents, the best available publicity marketing machine. I think that’s really what attracted him.
“Initially, it was Jermall, Benavidez, Andade [for Canelo]. If something happens with [Caleb] Plant, he could pop back into the picture. Jermell was sort of a possibility but distant. So I think there’s a lot of talent that we’ve got access to, even David Morrell at that point.
“So you can pick any three of those fights, and they’re three massive fights. I think so,” said Espinoza when asked if David Benavidez is possible for Canelo’s next fight on Cinco de Mayo in May 2024.
“Look, whoever wins in Benavidez and Andrade is going to make a pretty good case to be the next Canelo opponent. So that will be a big a lot of momentum, and that’s going to be a pretty big statement for whoever takes that fight,” said Espinoza.
