Demetrius Andrade’s trainer Andre Rozier, is picking Canelo Alvarez over David Benavidez if the two fight next May in a massive mega-fight on PPV.
Rozier feels that Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) has too much skills and power in his arsenal for the 26-year-old Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) to beat him if the two meet in the first half of 2024. However, he doesn’t think the fight will happen.
Rozier thinks that Canelo is at the point of his career where he’s done enough to be able to fight whoever he wants and is already heading for the Hall of Fame.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Canelo’s fortune is estimated at $200 million, and he obviously doesn’t need Benavidez for money. It’s the other way around.
If they were to fight, Rozier still believes that Canelo would have the technical skill to defeat Benavidez, who would be leaving himself open to being countered with his high-volume fighting style.
Benavidez struggled against Rozier’s fighter, Andrade, in the first round, and had problems with his mobility and body shots.
The fight turned around in the fourth round when Benavidez caught Andrade with a right hand counter and dropped him. Andrade left himself open for that shot by throwing a combination, which he shouldn’t have gone, as he’d been doing well throwing single punches, but he got greedy and paid the price.
Canelo would beat Benavidez
“If they fight in May 2024, I have to stick with the guy that is laying the plan down. I have to stick with Canelo,” said Andre Rozier to Fighthype when asked who wins between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez if they fight in May 2024.
“The reason why is the intangibles. The intangibles are his [Canelo] ability to sustain punishment. We saw in the two Golovkin fights by one of the hardest punchers in boxing, especially in the middleweight division, and someone that can really box,” Rozier continued about why he’s picking Canelo to beat Benavidez.
Benavidez doesn’t have the type of power that Gennadiy Golovkin possessed. His main assets are his huge cruiserweight size and his work rate when his opponents are standing in front of him.
Like a lot of young fighters, the 26-year-old Benavidez is able to drain down huge amounts of water weight to compete in a division that he has no business fighting in, but he’s doing it because that’s where the money fights are at.
If fighters like Canelo, Caleb Plant, and Jermall Charlo were fighting at 175 or cruiserweight, Benavidez would surely be right there and wouldn’t have to drain down nearly as much. He’d still have to lose weight, but not nearly as much.
“Benavidez is a fantastic fighter. His thing is pressure to break you,” said Rozier. “Canelo has so many overall weapons, that I would have to side with him in that fight. His [Canelo] defense is really, really good. It would be better than good for that fight.
“He wouldn’t let punches get in because when he gets his hands up, it’s really hard, and his counter-punching is fantastic, and he can punch. He hurts super middleweights. David is a fantastic, aggressive, offensive weapon, but he does have in his defense,” said Rozier.
The punches that WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol was landing against Canelo were still jabs for the most part, as his power shots were being picked off on the arms & gloves of the Mexican star.
If Canelo had a fighter that opens himself up as much as Benavidez does, he would have a lot of opportunities to counter him and make his life miserable.
“He seems pretty tough, but I don’t know how tough he would be against somebody that can actually hurt you back,” said Rozier about Benavidez. “So those are the intangibles, and I have to side with somebody who has been doing it for so long. He knows how to do it.
“I don’t know about stopping him [Benavidez], but he would be touching him enough times to put him in a troubled position,” said Rozier when asked if Canelo would stop Benavidez.
Canelo could hurt Benavidez if he’s sloppy and thinks he can overwhelm him with punches like he does against all of his opponents. It would be interesting to see if Benavidez would lower his punch output and focus on boxing in a fight with Canelo.
Alvarez won’t fight Benavidez
“I think it’s horrible. That’s a cakewalk for Canelo,” said Rozier when asked about his thoughts on Canelo, who is rumored to be fighting Jaime Munguia next in May 2024. “He’s [Munguia] just moving up to 168 also, so this will be just his second fight at 168, and he has a whole lost of holes in his arsenal.
“So, I think Canelo, that would be a fodder-fest for him. Without a doubt,” said Rozier on whether Benavidez is the only fight for Canelo. “I don’t think he’s going to do it, but that’s really the fight he should have.”
It’s very unlikely that Canelo will fight Benavidez because he and his dad, Jose Sr., have become a couple of annoying gnats for the Mexican star, and I don’t think he wants to honor them with a fight based on principle.
If Canelo were to give Benavidez the payday fight that he’s been pressuring him for, it would be a signal that he caved in, and that would result in other fighters trying the same thing.
“Canelo is the King, and the King does what he wants to do. He doesn’t care,” said Rozier about Alvarez not needing Benavidez.”He’s going to the Hall of Fame already. There’s nothing stopping him. He’s done it all.
“Floyd is in the Hall of Fame, and his competitive fire was gone five years before he, but you got to respect what he did. At a certain point, you got to let the greatness a chance to do what they wish. We might want to see them in different events, but it doesn’t matter,” said Rozier.
What looks really bad on Benavidez’s part is the fact that he feels he doesn’t need to fight risky opposition to earn the fight with Canelo.
That’s really troubling. Benavidez won’t fight David Morrell, and he’s still not fought Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev. He feels like he can skip to the front of the line after beating veterans, Demetrius Andrade, Roamier Alexis Angulo, 39, David Lemieux, 34, and that’s all he needs to do. Benavidez is taking the backdoor method.
“I don’t know. Legacy-wise, he doesn’t really have to. He’s already in the Hall of Fame,” said Rozier when asked if we’ll see Canelo vs. Rozier next year. “They’re just waiting to give him his ring. He’s already there.
“Monetarily, he doesn’t really care because it doesn’t matter,” said Rozier about the fabulously wealthy Canelo not needing the Benavidez fight.
Money-wise, Canelo doesn’t need Benavidez, and can ignore him forever and probably will. What likely bothers Canelo the most about Benavidez, besides his constant campaigning for a fight, is the fact that he’s not taking risks with his career.
Benavidez WON’T fight David Morrell, and he’s not risking his hide going up to 175, like he’s done, to face Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev.
Benavidez looked like a cruiserweight against Andrade
“The thing that really surprised me was seeing David in the ring from the time that he weighed in until the time that we were actually fighting him,” said Rozier about Benavidez looking much bigger for the Andrade fight after he rehydrated overnight, coming into the contest on the night looking like a full-fledged cruiserweight.
“He looked like a cruiserweight. Very big, massive, and I said, ‘Boy, we’re going to have to work. In the first three rounds, Boo Boo was initiating, following the game plan, and in the fourth round, he got caught with a shot that basically disrupted his flow, and he never got it back,” said Rozier.
Yeah, Benavidez looked as big as IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia last Saturday night when he fought Andrade. He was huge for that fight, and there was no way that Andrade, who looked 15-20 lbs lighter, was going to be able to stand in front of that mountainous fighter without getting chewed up.
“Things got progressively worse for us and better for Benavidez and we ended up having to call the fight,” said Rozier. “The game plan was simple. Use your jab, keep him off balance, don’t stand in front of him. Keep turning him, and work to the body on the turns.
“I think the shot that disrupted his flow really threw him off direction, and he couldn’t get back on it,” said Rozier about Andrade after he was hurt by Benavidez in the fourth. “He wasn’t moving like he was originally, which was picture-perfect, beautiful.”
In hindsight, Rozier would have been better off focusing on bringing Andrade in as light as possible and having him move all night, throwing single shots only, because he couldn’t stand and fight Benavidez, given his size advantage.
The only guy at 168 that could stand in front of Benavidez and get over is David Morrell, but he won’t fight him, so it’s pointless. Benavidez & Jose Sr. know their limitations.
