By Dan Ambrose: Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he wants to see Canelo Alvarez tested by him facing David Benavidez at 168. Mayweather pointed out in a media at the WBC convention that there are other fighters besides Canelo that deserve credit as well.
The superstar Mayweather then mentioned Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr., and Benavidez as fighters that should be getting the same amount of attention from the media as Canelo.
Mayweather’s suggestion that Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) to take on former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) is one that the boxing public has been pushing for with no luck, as the Mexican star doesn’t seem interested in taking that risky fight.
Mayweather wants Canelo to fight Benavidez
“We like Canelo Alvarez, but Gervonta Davis, Errol Spence, Terence Crawford – there are so many other great fighters out there,” said Floyd Mayweathier Jr. to the media at the WBC convention this week.
“David Benavidez is a helluva fighter also; that’s a good test for Canelo.
“Canelo looked superb the other night [against Caleb Plant]. He went out there, and he went out there, and he done his job and did what he’s supposed to do as a fighter.
“We [Canelo] had a chance to clash, two undefeated fighters, and we gave people what they wanted to see [in 2013],” said Mayweather about his fight with Alvarez eight years ago in which he won by a 12 round majority decision.
“It was a hell of a chess match. He’s one of the faces in the sport of boxing,” said Mayweather about Canelo in pointing out that he gets too much credit while the other fighters that are just as talented don’t receive that same attention.
It was thought that Canelo, 31, would finally give the fans the fight they wanted to see against Benavidez after he recently accomplished his three-year mission to become the undisputed champion at super middleweight by beating Caleb Plant on November 6th.
Some fans believe that Canelo had used his goal of becoming the undisputed champion at 168 as an excuse for why he didn’t have to fight Benavidez.
But now that Canelo has accomplished that goal, fans wanted to see him finally face Benavidez. Instead, it was announced on Tuesday evening that Canelo would be moving up to cruiserweight to take on WBC champion Ilunga Makabu.
WBC’s new cruiserweight weight limit: 190 lbs
While that sounds like an admirable thing for Canelo to do, going up two weight divisions to try and become a five-division world champion, he’s picking out the perceived weakest of the champions in that weight class in a 34-year-old Makabu.
Another thing that many boxing fans aren’t aware of is that the WBC has now lowered the weight limit for their cruiserweight champions from 200 to 190, which means Makabu will need to come ten pounds less for his fight with Canelo than he’s weighed in the past for his contests in the division.
Makabu is giving Canelo a HUGE catchweight advantage by having to drain down ten lbs to fight at 190 instead of 200.
That weight drop is likely to have a significant adverse effect on Makabu, who, as I said, is already viewed as the weakest link among the champions at 200.
Interestingly, the WBC has come up with their weight limit of 190 lbs for cruiserweight division, whereas the IBF, WBA & WBO will continue to use 200 lbs as the limit.
If you’re wondering why Canelo chose the WBC champion Makabu to go after to try and win a fifth division world title, the new 190-lb weight limit might have something to do with it.
If Canelo were to take on IBF champion Mairis Briedis or WBO champion Lawrence Okolie, those fighters would be able to weigh in at 200 lbs instead of 190, and they’d likely rehydrate to around 215 to 220 lbs. That’s much too big for Canelo.
But with the WBC having a NEW 190 lb limit for their cruiserweight title, it’s going to be very, very hard on Makabu, who will have to drop an additional 10 lbs that he didn’t have to in the past. That’s going to help Canelo.