Demetrius Andrade is warning Canelo Alvarez to avoid his former conqueror David Benavidez after losing to him in 2023 by sixth round stoppage. Andrade thinks Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is too big and throws too many combinations for Canelo to defeat him.
It’s understandable why Demetrius tries to make Benavidez sound invincible, as it lessens the impact of his defeat against him. He took an ego hit in that fight and suffered his first career loss. So, he’s trying to protect his ego by making Benavidez sound like he’s a top talent, when in fact he’s not.
Benavidez’s next opponent
We saw that in his fight against the 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15. Gvozdyk recently came out of a four-year retirement and punched Benavidez and put all kinds of bumps on his face.
Canelo has not mentioned wanting to fight ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, and the two fighters now compete in different weight classes. Fighting at light heavyweight, Benavidez, 28, will challenge the WBA’s regular 175-lb champion David Morrell in 33 days on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If Benavidez loses that fight by knockout, he could return to the 168-lb division if he can still make weight. It would be pointless for him to stay at 175 if Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) destroys him. Morrell is just as big as Benavidez, but faster, hits harder, younger, and has better technical skills.
There’s a good chance Morrell will win that fight and permanently take care of Canelo’s problem, not that he needs any help. Andrade, 36, may be impressed by Benavidez’s striking skills, but he’s not a knockout. He couldn’t even stop Caleb Plant.
The only reason he stopped Andrade is because of his size and youth advantage. He was 26 when he defeated Demetrius on November 25 last year.
Don’t do it!
“I don’t think Canelo beats David (Benavidez). I don’t blame him for not fighting David. Canelo, stay away from David. Don’t do it,” said Demetrius Andrade Fight Hub TV. “I’m taller and taller than Canelo. I don’t know if Canelo can beat (Benavidez). This is a big boy.
“You have to have the right skills, movement, IQ, sharpness to beat David, unless David is fighting the next biggest man at 175 is going to be a different story. But at 168, that’s how you have to be to beat him.
“Canelo is smaller than me, and I was able to push David around for a few rounds and do whatever I needed to do. But that weight and his height, and he knows how to throw punches in bunches, it’s going to be a tough task for Canelo.
“David is also not someone who lets you down. Canelo doesn’t beat him,” Andrade says of his belief that Benavidez can’t be beaten by Alvarez.
Canelo would have fought Benavidez now, but he talked so much trash and came across as needy. The way Benavidez looked fixated on Alvarez is terrifying, almost like a stalker. For any popular fighter to make someone sound as obsessed with the way Benavidez came across, they’d be ignoring him too.
