By Sean Jones: Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza thinks the winner of next month’s pay-per-view super middleweight battle between WBC interim champion David Benavidez & Demetrius Andrade will be in a “good position” to fight Canelo Alvarez next.
Espinoza feels that whoever emerges as the winner of the Benavidez-Andrade contest is the “biggest fight” for undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo. However, he says the decision will ultimately be up to Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) to decide who he wants next.
Despite Benavidez’s impressive record of 27-0 with 23 KOs, Canelo has not shown any interest in fighting him, making it difficult to believe that he will suddenly consider fighting him if he beats Andrade, who has a record of 32-0 with 19 KOs at the age of 35.
For those who saw Andrade’s recent fight against journeyman Demond Nicholson, he looked slow & unimpressive, and not the fighter he’d been in his prime. Andrade looked hurt at one point after getting nailed by Nicholson, and he was exhausted in the championship rounds
At this point in Canelo’s career, he’s more of a shrewd businessman than a fighter who is taking risks. If you need an example of that, just look at his recent choices of opponents:
- Jermell Charlo – Inactive 154-pounder, who hadn’t fought in a year & half
- John Ryder – 35-year-old fringe contender with no speed or power
- Gennadiy Golovkin – past his best 41-year-old
Stephen Espinoza from Showtime said, “The winner of this fight [David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade] is in a really good position [to fight Canelo Alvarez next]. For my money, the winner of this fight is probably the biggest fight for Canelo going forward,” in an interview with Fighthype.
I think Espinoza is missing the point here. Canelo Alvarez doesn’t take risks anymore, and he hasn’t since his loss to Dmitry Bivol. That fight was arguably a cherry pick gone wrong.
Canelo made the mistake of choosing Bivol as his opponent, thinking it was an easy win. However, he failed to watch Bivol’s previous contests, where he looked poor against Umar Salamov and Craig Richards.
It doesn’t matter that the winner of the Benavidez vs. Andrade fight is the biggest one for Canelo. With Canelo’s huge fortune, he doesn’t need to get extra money for a dangerous fight that he could lose against the Benavidez-Andrade winner.
“I know the [Dmitry] Bivol rematch [with Canelo] has some people excited,” said Espinoza. “The winner of this fight [Benavidez-Andrade] seems like the most natural one, but it’s up to Canelo.
“We already saw a small guy [154-pounder Jermell Charlo] go up and fight Canelo. How is this going to be any different,” said Espinoza when asked about Terence Crawford as an option for Canelo’s next fight.
Will Canelo fight Conor McGregor next?
It’s troubling that Canelo is engaging in back-and-forth banter with former UFC champion Conor McGregor on social media this week.
For Canelo to be investing so much time & energy into responding to McGregor’s comments about him on social media can only mean one thing. He’s considering fighting the 35-year-old McGregor, who hasn’t competed in his sport in two years since 2021.
A crossover fight between Canelo & McGregor in the boxing ring would sell to casual fans, particularly MMA people, but it would be a pathetic money-grab, and would ultimately produce a poor product that would leave anyone who purchases it upset & feeling tricked.
It may be hard to believe, but fans will be excited about the prospect of Canelo fighting McGregor, even if it’s not a fair match. They’ll still buy it on PPV, and both fighters will make a lot of money from it. McGregor is already wealthy, with a reported net worth of $200 million.
