Historically in the sport of boxing, there is a list of big fights that have not materialized, but currently a potential mega-fight between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez is in high demand in the public, but to face Benavidez is ‘ a risk that Canelo is not willing to take.
David Benavidez is a former two-time WBC world champion who lost his title on two separate occasions outside the ring. Benavidez was stripped in September 2018 due to a positive drug test, and after regaining the title, he was stripped again in August 2020 for missing weight.
Two years later, Benavidez would go on to defeat David Lemieux by way of 3rd round TKO and win the WBC interim super middleweight title. Benavidez called Canelo out, but unfortunately Canelo decided to go in a different direction.
Canelo defeated the then 40-year-old Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in their trilogy fight by unanimous decision. After the trilogy fight, Alvarez became upset at his post-fight press conference when a member of the media asked the Benavidez question.
Alvarez responded by saying that he does not fight Mexicans because he represents Mexico. Alvarez also took a shot at former two-time WBC world champion David Benavidez’s credentials by implying that Benavidez hasn’t accomplished enough to deserve a title shot.
After making the statements, Alvarez fought John Ryder, a man who had five losses and never won a world title, within a 12-month period. After the unanimous decision over Ryder, Alvarez beat Mexican boxer Jaime Munguia.
After contradicting himself with the statement of Benavidez’s lack of achievements and the argument that he does not fight Mexicans, Canelo came up with a new excuse. In March 2024, Canelo Alvarez, who normally earns around $30 million per fight, said he would agree to face David Benavidez for $200 million.
Canelo’s reason for requesting the additional money is due to rehydration. During an interview related to the topic, Canelo said, “He (Benavidez) doesn’t bring anything to the table for me. He just brings 25 more pounds that night. That’s it.”
Six months later, Canelo Alvarez fought Edgar Berlanga, a man who brought nothing to the table, and he competed in his first world title match. In addition to that, as a challenger for the 168-pound unification world title match, Berlanga rehydrated to 193 pounds on fight night.
If you analyze the timeline of incriminating evidence, it is easy to see that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez ducks David Benavidez. The difference between Benavidez and Canelo’s past four opponents is Canelo knew he could beat them, but he thinks he can beat David Benavidez.
For Canelo, the fight with David Benavidez is a classic case of high risk, low reward, which is why Canelo has stamped this potential fight with a $200 million price tag. Canelo can say Benavidez didn’t do anything, but judging by the price point Canelo has set, it shows he respects Benavidez.
As a potential opponent, David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is everything Canelo doesn’t want to see. Benavidez is an aggressive, highly skilled fighter who is younger, has the size advantage and is a volume puncher who possesses exceptional hand speed.
It is tragic regarding the fans who are not receiving the fight they have been demanding for the last two years. Through it all, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman helped Canelo navigate his way around the Benavidez fight.
In November 2022, Mauricio Sulaiman said that the winner of the David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant match would be the mandatory challenger for Canelo Alvarez. Benavidez defeated Plant by unanimous decision, but Sulaiman was unable to command the fight.
A year later, Sulaiman said that the winner of the David Benavidez vs Demetrius Andrade fight would be the mandatory for Canelo. Benavidez stopped Andrade in the sixth round, but once again Sulaiman was unable to order the Canelo vs Benavidez match.
The past two years have been very frustrating for fighters and boxing pundits. Everyone is calling for the Canelo vs Benavidez match to happen, but Canelo is choosing to ignore the demands of the general public.
Recently, Benavidez moved up to 175, but he says he will return to 168 to face Canelo. So the question is, will we ever see a match between Canelo and Benavidez?
Judging by the way Canelo is content with living off his previous accolades of big, risky fights, I would think this mega-fight will never happen, and it will go down as the biggest miss of this era.
