Canelo Alvarez has surprisingly not booked Cinco de Mayo as his next fight in 2026. That leaves the vacation to ‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez to take. He has already revealed that he will fight WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez on May 2, 2026.
Is it PPV worthy?
Benavidez-Ramirez isn’t a big enough fight to match what Canelo would bring to the Cinco de Mayo date. It’s a decent fight, but not interesting enough to get fans eager to buy it on PPV. Without Canelo, the Cinco de Mayo date in 2026 will be dull.
Benavidez needs a star
Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) needs someone more interesting than his opponent for Cinco de Mayo to attract fans across the US on May 2, 2026. Zurdo Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) failed to become a crossover star in the United States, mainly due to the poor matches his promoter put up 6 throughout the year.
The perception is that Gilberto was protected all the time, protected from the wolves to build a plastic record to make him a pseudo star for money making purposes. Although it worked to a lesser extent, it hurt his popularity in the long run because he never fought the big names.
The Real Cinco de Mayo Options
- Dmitry Bivol
- Terence Crawford
- Artur Beterbiev
- Jai Opetaia
- Canelo Alvarez
Crawford: The dream – but won’t happen
Crawford would be the ideal opponent for ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez to fight on Cinco de Mayo. There is very little chance that Bud will agree to fight him.
Although Crawford says he wants to be among the all-time greats on boxing’s Mount Rushmore, he hasn’t shown the same daring that greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis did. He should say yes to a fight against Benavidez for Cinco de Mayo in 2026, but he’s not going to do it. He protects that O.
Why Canelo Doesn’t Fight
Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) has fought Cinco de Mayo in five of the last six years. So for him not to have already booked the holiday in 2026 is a surprise. There is more attention for him to receive and money. He is coming off a crushing loss to Terence Crawford on September 13th and has been dealing with an elbow injury.
Canelo’s earnings for the ‘Fight of the Century’ against Crawford were over $100 million. So, maybe the need for him to fight Cinco de Mayo is less critical. The pair are believed to be in talks for a rematch, which could come in September 2026. It will be another huge payday for Alvarez, especially if Turki Alalshikh is the one financing it.
“The million dollar question: Who fights on CINCO DE MAYO? With Canelo Álvarez without anything official, no one knows yet who will end up on this date, so important to Mexican boxing. For now, two promoters have already reserved Las Vegas for that date,” says Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN Knockout X.
Last updated on 12/10/2025
