By Dan Ambrose: Former 2-time WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez is confident that he’ll defeat 3-belt champion Canelo Alvarez when he finally gets his shot to fight him.
Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) is facing Jose Uzcategui (31-4, 26 KOs) in a WBC title eliminator next month on November 13th on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona.
With a victory over the former IBF 168-lb champion Uzcategui, Benavidez, 24, will lock himself in as Canelo’s mandatory.
Unless Canelo chooses to vacate his WBC belt or if IBF champion Caleb Plant beats him in their undisputed clash on November 6th, he’ll need to face Benavidez.
Last year, Benavidez lost his WBC super middleweight title when he came in overweight at 170 3/4 pounds for his defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo on August 15th, 2020.
Although Benavidez won the fight by a 10 round technical decision over Angulo, he still lost his title on the scales. Canelo took advantage of Benavidez’s misfortune by defeating Callum Smith four months later in December 2020 to capture the vacant WBC 168-lb title.
Since then, Benavidez has been working on trying and recapturing his WBC title. He’s fought once in defeating Ronald Ellis by an 11th round knockout last March, and now he’s facing Uzcategui on November 13th.
Benavidez confident of beating Canelo
“I’m always going to have confidence in myself. I feel like I can beat him,” said David Benavidez to Fight Hub TV about Canelo. “And I seen a lot of things that I know I can take advantage of.
“I think the thing that Canelo’s opponents, they haven’t had power. The last ones [Billy Joe Saunders and Avni Yildirim] haven’t had power.
“You need power to keep Canelo off of you, or else he’s going to be right there all night. That’s the thing with me. I feel like I’m the hardest hitter at 168.
“And I feel like 24 wins with 21 knockouts, so I definitely got the goods to give Canelo a good fight.
“I got a great jab, great body shots, great speed, and I put on a lot of pressure too. I feel like that’s the type of fighter Canelo is when he fights,” Benavidez said.
There’s a good chance Benavidez will beat Canelo because the Mexican superstar’s work rate is dropping off to the level where he would need a knockout or questionable judging for him to defeat him.
With Benavidez’s offense and excellent chin, he would put the judges in a challenging position if they gave Canelo the victory in a fight he was badly outworked.
For Canelo to beat Benavidez, he would need to increase his punch output to a level we haven’t seen in many years. I don’t know if he can do that at this point in his career.
Benavidez waiting for his opportunity
“He hasn’t had an opponent that has given him a lot of trouble like that,” said Benavidez. “They all seem to be defeated. With me, it’s going to be the exact opposite. I have a lot of confidence, I’m motivated, and I believe in myself, and I know I’m going to be the one that beats Canelo.
“There are a lot of people that support me and a lot of people that think Canelo will beat me. That just gives me more motivation to go out there and work as hard as possible to get the victory and shut all the haters up.
“There’s a lot of motivation for this fight [Jose Uzcategui], and I’m waiting for my opportunity. Like I said, I’m going to be the one that beats Canelo.
“I don’t care where I fight him. I just want to get in the ring with him. Texas would be great. If I could fight in front of 73,000 people like they just fought. You got two Mexican fighters. I don’t see why we wouldn’t sell the stadium out,” said Benavidez.
If Canelo chooses to bypass Benavidez or vacate his super middleweight titles, he’ll need to go after the vacant belt.
We saw how Canelo wanted no part in fighting Gennadiy Golovkin in his early 30s and pushing hard to fight him. It wasn’t until GGG was 36 before Canelo fighting fought him.
Canelo will probably ignore Benavidez and not give him the fight he’s been asking for against him.
With Benavidez, Canelo can’t wait him out until he’d old and past it in the way that many boxing fans believe he did against Golovkin. It hurts Canelo more if he waits three to six years before he fights Benavidez.
David won’t back up
“I don’t get backed up too much, and I don’t let people push me to the ropes,” said Benavidez when told that Canelo backs up most of his opponents to the ropes. He could try.
“I would love to see him try, but I feel that the difference between the other guys he’s fought and me is I’m stronger than all the guys he’s fought.
“We just have to see how he reacts to the punches. Once I hit that right spot, I know I’ll hurt anybody; it doesn’t matter who it is.
“So, if I hit him with the right body shot, right hook, some good uppercuts, I know I can hurt that guy. I have an excellent jab,” said Benavidez.
Alvarez can beat fighters that don’t back up on him, but obviously, most of his opponents have always backed up against him. If Benavidez doesn’t back up, he’s going to need a good chin because Canelo will be hitting him with some massive shots.
Canelo deserves credit if he beats Plant
“The other fighters he’s fought, they didn’t have an excellent jab,” Benavidez said of Canelo. That’s why Canelo can go in there and do what he wants to do because nobody keeps him off of him.
“Nobody throws a jab, and nobody keeps him at a distance. So there’s a lot of things that I do that would really back him up with my power shots and body shots.
“I just got to get in there and see how things go, but I feel like I’m very confident what I can do to him.
“When you fight Canelo, you have to be consistent with the jab. My jab isn’t like any normal jab. My jab is like a right hand.
“There are a lot of things that I can do to potentially hurt Canelo if I do the right stuff. If he wins the IBF belt, he’ll have all the belts, and you’ve got to give credit where credits due.
“Just because I lost my [WBC super middleweight title] and he [Canelo] won it from somebody else [Callum Smith], I’m not going to say that he doesn’t deserve the belt or that he doesn’t deserve to be undisputed.
“If he wins the IBF title [from Caleb Plant], and he has all the belts, then he deserves to be called undisputed,” Benavidez said.
Canelo will deserve credit if he beats Plant to become the undisputed super middleweight champion on November 6th. But with that said, you have to look at the guys he’s beaten to earn that distinction.
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Callum Smith
- Rocky Fielding
None of those former 168-lb champions are considered the same level as Benavidez, Gennadiy Golovkin, David Morrell Jr., Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Joe Smith Jr., or Carlos Gongora.
You won’t be able to give Canelo full credit if he becomes the undisputed champion at 168 because his opposition has been too poor.
Benavidez waiting for the opportunity
“I know eventually I’m going to get that opportunity,” said Benavidez about him believing he’ll get a title shot against Canelo eventually. “I’m not going to go back and forth talking s***.
“I make a mistake [in failing to make weight], and he picked up the belt because he got the opportunity.
“I know I’m going to get my chance, and I know I’m going to be more than ready when that opportunity comes. Like I said, I will be the one to shock the world. It’s going to be a war.
“I know Canelo is a great fighter, but I’m a great fighter as well. I’m not laying down for nobody, so I know it’s going to be a war,” said Benavidez about him fighting Canelo soon.
We’ll see which direction Canelo takes if he successfully defeats Caleb Plant on November 6th in their super middleweight undisputed clash.
Unfortunately for Benavidez, it’s not likely that Canelo will hold onto his four titles at 168. Canelo is probably going to vacate the belts and move up to 175.
If he does stay at 168, he’ll likely take a calculated risk by fighting someone like Jermall Charlo or Errol Spence Jr. Benavidez is too big of a risk for Canelo, and it goes against his career-long pattern.
