Errol Spence says Canelo should “stay away” from Beterbiev & Bivol at 175

By Boxing News - 05/08/2023 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Errol Spence Jr says he thinks Canelo Alvarez stay away from light heavyweights Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol because his focus on throwing power shots doesn’t work with them. Canelo doesn’t hit hard enough to bother them.

Spence says Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) should fight David Benavidez because he feels that would be a good fight. Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) would stand in front of Canelo and be there to be hit.

Unfortunately, Canelo has already decided that he wants to fight a rematch with Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) next on September 16th, and he won’t listen to anyone trying to persuade him not to go in that direction.

Spence says he’d be interested in fighting Canelo but only after he faces Terence Crawford. That’s the match-up that Errol wants next because it’s the one the boxing world has been waiting on for the last six years.

As Stephen Espinoza of Showtime says, if the Spence-Crawford fight doesn’t happen now, it probably never will.

“I like it. He [Canelo] did alright from what I seen. I saw the highlights, but I didn’t see the fight,” said Errol Spence to ESNEWS about Canelo Alvarez’s fight last weekend against John Ryder and whether he’d like to face him.

“I definitely like it, but right now, my focus isn’t on Canelo at all. Benavidez would be a good a** fight because they’re going to be right there with each other. Canelo is probably more slicker, but that would be a good fight.

“I think he should stay away from Bivol. Stay away from Beterbiev too,” said Spence about whether Canelo should fight light heavyweight world champions Dmitry Bivol & Artur Beterbiev.

“Go back to 168 and handle your business, but I feel like 175 is pushing it. He [Canelo] throws a lot of power punches. I don’t think his power affects them at 175 like it would at the lower weights.

“There’s a lot of faces [of boxing]. Whoever has a fight coming up, they’re the face. If Canelo has a fight coming up, he’s the face. If Terence has a fight coming up, he’s the face. When I fight, I’m the face. Whoever has a fight coming up, they’re the face,” said Spence.

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