Oscar De La Hoya is convinced that David Benavidez will knock out Canelo Alvarez if they fight. Oscar feels that the younger and larger Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) would utilize his high-volume punch attack to stop Canelo, who isn’t physically capable of throwing many punches without gassing.
Oscar denies he’s bitter about Canelo and predicts a bad outcome for that reason, but fans think that’s the case. Still, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the 33-year-old Canelo would be up against it in taking on a younger fighter like Benavidez, who looks like he should be campaigning at light heavyweight or cruiserweight.
If Canelo waits a little bit longer, Benavidez will finally have outgrown the 168-lb division, and that’ll finish any question about who would win in a fight between them.
We don’t know yet if Benavidez will ever get the opportunity to face Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs), but if the rumors are true, ‘The Mexican Monster’ will get a shot at fighting him in September 2024 after Alvarez faces Jaime Munguia next May.
WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez still needs to win his fight against Demetrius Andrade on November 25th for him to have a chance of fighting Canelo next year. We don’t know yet if Benavidez can win that fight because Andrade has a lot of skills, and he knows how to beat sluggers.
“I think he [David Benavidez] knocks him out, I really do,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV when asked about a fight between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez.
Some fans would argue that if Benavidez couldn’t knockout Caleb Plant, he sure wouldn’t stop Canelo, who is a level above him in talent. Benavidez never came close to stopping Plant and was getting outboxed through the first six rounds before he faded.
“Benavidez is a monster,” said De La Hoya. “Benavidez throws an average of above 55 punches per round. Canelo-Charlo, in the first round, they threw one punch combined. So, I’m just talking to you as a boxing expert. I’m not talking to you, ‘Oh, I hate Canelo. I hate Benavidez.’
“Those are the facts; those are the reality on paper. What happens in the ring, I don’t know. Just by studying and being a historian in boxing, the writing is on the wall. If Benavidez is going to throw 50+ punches per round, guess who’s going to win?”
If Canelo is stationary against Benavidez, it’ll be a tough fight for him unless he can get to his chin or chop him down with a body shot. Ronald Gavril dropped Benavidez in their first fight, and he’s not a huge puncher.
We don’t know how Benavidez will handle making the 168-lb limit for his next couple of fights because he looked he’d reached the limit of what he physically could endure getting down in weight last March for his fight against Caleb Plant.
“I’m not sure how strong Benavidez’s chin is. It hasn’t really been tested,” said De La Hoya. “He’s been dropped, I think. Canelo has been rocked. So it all depends. If Canelo lands that one bomb that he always throws, the right hand, it’s game over for Benavidez.
“I think Benavidez, because he’s young, because he’s strong, and he’s very versatile and throws a lot of punches, it’s going to create problems for Canelo,” said Oscar.
If that fight happens, Canelo will use movement to avoid Benavidez’s attacks and will look to attack with hard single shots that will test his chin. The only big puncher that Benavidez has fought during his career is David Lemieux, and he was over the hill and stopped in four rounds before he’d gotten a chance to land anything.
“Boo Boo vs. Benavidez. I didn’t know how big he was. When I saw him next to Benavidez, it gave me more hope that he’s going to do well in the first half of the fight,” said De La Hoya. “I think Benavidez is a monster. He’s going to come forward. He has a lot of aggression, but he knows how to use it.
“His footwork is great. I think the pressure is going to be a little too much for Boo Boo. It could force a stoppage, but who knows? Boo Boo is a fighter. If he stays disciplined,” said De La Hoya when asked how Andrade can beat Benavidez.
Andrade will be disciplined because he knows he can’t beat Benavidez if he goes to war with him, so he’s going to be using movement and boxing throughout their fight on November 25th.
Where Andrade could have problems is if he gasses out. If he tires at some point, Benavidez will capitalize on the situation to potentially knock him out.
“This is exactly what I said with Canelo and Charlo,” said De La Hoya. “If Charlo fights the perfect fight and stays disciplined the whole night, but obviously, he didn’t show up to fight. So there was no fight whatsoever. That went out the window, and my analogy went out the window.
“If Boo Boo comes to fight and doesn’t do a Charlo, if he stays disciplined and sticks to his game plan. Boo Boo’s style can frustrate anybody, but he has to stay disciplined and have great conditioning,” said Oscar.
Andrade’s age could be a limiting factor for him, as he’s 35, and is fighting in his third weight division. It’s going to be hard for him to beat Benavidez at his age unless he can stay on the move, and win a decision.
“Angles, it’s all angles,” said De La Hoya on how to beat a pressure fighter like Benavidez. “Look at Zurdo Ramirez and Joe Smith. It’s all angles. Zurdo Ramirez was throwing punches, moving side to side.
“Look at what Mayweather does, including myself. You try to be aggressive and try to knock his head off, but if he figures out those angles, you get frustrated. That’s exactly what Mayweather does.
“That’s the one thing that Mayweather has is he stays disciplined throughout his whole career. So it obviously worked for him,” said De La Hoya.
