By Dan Ambrose: Roy Jones Jr believes Canelo Alvarez is waiting for the perfect moment before he agrees to fight David Benavidez. Just what Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is waiting for is unclear, as he’s getting older, and his game is starting to show signs of slippage.
Roy says he thinks Canelo feels he’s a level above Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) due to his knockout of Caleb Plant in 2021.
Benavidez was forced to go the twelve-round distance to defeat the former IBF super middleweight champion Plant last month on March 25th in a tough fight that saw Caleb dominate early but then fade late.
Canelo is fighting next month against John Ryder on May 6th, and then he could face Dmitry Bivol in a rematch in September. That fight is still up in the air because Canelo must agree to put his four 168-lb titles on the line for it to happen.
“I told everybody that Caleb is going to be good boxing with him early, but once he gets past the fifth or sixth round, the boxing goes away because now Benavidez is going to be used to it and is going to know where the danger is and the danger ain’t. Once he realizes where the danger ain’t, he isn’t going for it,” said Roy Jones Jr to Fight Hub TV, discussing David Benavidez’s victory over Caleb Plant last March.
“Once Caleb got a little fatigued, he didn’t have the power to keep him off. You have to have the power to keep Benavidez off you, or else it’s not going to work. He’s [Plant] an excellent boxer, but you have to have the power to keep that man off of you,” said Jones Jr.
Plant didn’t have the conditioning to continue fighting hard in the second half, and that allowed Benavidez to come on and dish out a lot of punishment in the second half of the fight. Caleb showed a lot of heart staying in there for the full twelve rounds and not quitting or letting his corner pull him out.
Canelo could be in trouble against Benavidez
“If you can’t keep the ‘Monster’ off you, it’s going to be trouble. He’s been wanting that danger for a long time. It ain’t been him that has been saying no,” said Jones Jr when asked if Canelo Alvarez is the ‘danger’ for Benavidez.
“Canelo hasn’t taken it, but it’s not David that has said no. It’s Canelo that said that he didn’t want to fight another Mexican. David has been trying to fight Canelo for years now. It’s a tough fight for him, tougher than people think, but I think David definitely wants the fight.
“I think Canelo is probably waiting for the right time. I know David wants the fight. It’s a good fight, but you’ve got to look at it like this too. You can’t take nothing away from Canelo because Canelo did stop Caleb. David didn’t stop Caleb.
“So in Canelo’s eyes, he’s still the better fighter now, and David wants to prove, ‘I’m the better fighter.’ That’s probably why they want to fight. That’s what makes boxing.
“It’s a tough fight to call. One of them is young [Benavidez] and enthusiastic, and the other [Canelo] is very experienced. He’s not such an old guy either, but he’s got a lot of fights behind him. So it depends on how socially involved both guys get.
“Because it’s a Mexican battle, how much will that bring out of Canelo? Will that bring the pride out of Canelo that we want to see or will that make him get up because he’s defending his home country? What’s going to happen? If that makes him get up to defend his home, then we’ll see a good fight,” said Jones Jr.
