Trainer Robert Garcia doesn’t like the idea of David Benavidez fighting Jermall Charlo next if he can’t get the title shot against Canelo Alvarez in the first quarter of 2024.
Benavidez seems to be more focused on making money by getting the most attention possible with his career, and he also wants to eliminate Jermall as a potential option for Canelo to face in the third & final fight of his three-fight contract with PBC in September 2024.
Robert wants Benavidez to fight one of these guys next:
- David Morrell
- Artur Beterbiev
- Dmitry Bivol
You can argue that Benavidez would have to be dragged kicking & screaming into the ring to fight David Morrell because he wants no part of fighting this talent, who can ruin his vision of getting that massive payday against Canelo that he’s been after.
Benavidez & his dad, Jose Sr, don’t seem keen on facing the dangerous Cuban David Morrell, and the reasons are obvious. Morrell has power, excellent boxing skills, big and young at 25.
They could recognize that Morrell has the talent to take away the things that Benavidez has going for him, with his cruiserweight size and high work rate. Morrell has the power to beat Benavidez and make him look bad in the process, which obviously he & his dad, Jose Sr, recognize that.
Canelo is rumored to be fighting Jaime Munguia next May in his second fight of his PBC contract, and if Jermall is still available & undefeated, he could use him for his final fight with Premier Boxing Champions.
Once that happens, Benavidez will have no way of exerting pressure on PBC to force a fight between him and Canelo.
Robert feels that it would be a backward move on WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez’s part to face the 33-year-old Jermall (33-0, 22 KOs), who he says didn’t look good in his recent comeback fight against his brother Jose Benavidez Jr. on November 25th.
Although Jermall won the fight by a lopsided ten round unanimous decision against Benavidez Jr, he didn’t look sharp and not ready to take on ‘The Mexican Monster’ next.
Benavidez shouldn’t fight Jermall Charlo next
“At this point, I’d pick Benavidez, but Canelo is a great warrior, a great fighter, very experienced. So he might find a way to beat him,” said trainer Robert Garcia to Little Giant Boxing about his belief that David Benavidez would beat Canelo Alvarez if the fight happens now.
“I think Benavidez would be kind of going backward,” said Robert when told that Benavidez wants to fight Jermall Charlo next if he doesn’t get the fight with Canelo in May 2024.
You can bet that Benavidez is going to be pushing PBC hard to set up the fight between him and Jermall for March or May if he can’t get the Canelo payday match-up next, which he probably won’t.
It’ll be up to PBC if they want to use Jermall as Benavidez’s next opponent or save him for the second half of next year for Canelo to fight.
Considering how much money PBC is paying Canelo for his three-fight contract with them, it’s probable that they’ll set up the Benavidez vs. Jermall fight next because they won’t want Alvarez to have the option of fighting Charlo in September 2024.
If you’re PBC, you’ll want to get the most money possible for Canelo’s final fight on his contract, especially if the rumors are true of Benavidez’s recent fight against the old-timer Demetrius Andrade doing only 60K PPV buys on November 25th.
Those are awful numbers, showing that Benavidez, for some reason, isn’t a PPV draw and lacks that certain something that fans are interested in seeing. The star appeal is missing with Benavidez.
Is it how he looks or that he appears to be so much bigger than his opponents, looking like a weight bully or this era version of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr?
“His [Jermall] performance wasn’t that good [against Jose Benavidez Jr. in comeback fight], and him being a champion at 160, doing his first fight in two and a half years at 163 and still not making weight, I don’t think he deserves it [to fight David Benavidez in the first quarter of 2024],” said Robert Garcia.
“Yeah, maybe [Jermall] Charlo has been going through some personal problems, maybe has personal issues where he didn’t look his best. Maybe in his next fight, he’ll look better. Hopefully, we’ll see that, but he needs a win over Demetrius Andrade or Caleb Plant to be able to get Benavidez,” said Robert.
Jermall did NOT look sharp enough against Benavidez Jr. to be put in a big fight in early next year. It wouldn’t be fair to the fans, and it wouldn’t be good for Jermall to be thrown into the ring to face Benavidez in the first quarter of 2024.
That fight would be made just to make money and make Benavidez look better than he actually is. If Benavidez is all that, he should fight one of the big three: Morrell, Bivol, or Beterbiev next. If not, he can forget about getting the fight with Canelo because he’s not willing to take the risks to earn it.
Is David Morrell too big of a risk?
“If Benavidez chooses Charlo in his next fight, I’ll be a little disappointed. I’d like for him to fight if it’s not Canelo because I would love that fight [Canelo-Benavidez] to happen if it’s not Canelo, maybe one of those light heavyweights or maybe a unification against [David] Morrell,” said Robert.
“That’s what’s going to make him [Benavidez] a bigger star, taking those challenges. Not going back and fighting Charlo because Charlo didn’t look very impressive and didn’t make weight. Yeah, okay, now it’s going to be at 168. That’s what the excuse is going to be, but he didn’t make weight. That’s unprofessional,” said Robert.
It would make Benavidez a bigger star if he were to beat Morrell, but if he feels he’s not up to the task, what can you do? If Benavidez thought he could beat Morrell, don’t you think he would have fought him rather than Andrade, Caleb Plant, David Lemieux, or Kyrone Davis?
Those are Benavidez’s last four opponents, and none of them are anywhere near the level of Morrell talent-wise. Benavidez fought soft touches, and that shows you something about him.
“He’s a champion at 160, chose to do a catchweight at 163, and still came in heavy,” Robert continued about Jermall. “That’s just not right. It’s happened before; it’s happened to a lot of fighters, but do they deserve a mega-fight right after? Maybe not. Maybe he [Jermall] needs a fight against Caleb Plant or Demetrius Andrade? Caleb Plant and Charlo-Andrade would be huge. That would be big.
“If Canelo doesn’t fight Benavidez, then Benavidez should go after bigger fights that make more sense. Morrell is a huge fight, too. That guy is very dangerous. He’s one of those guys like [Subriel] Matias at 140. You’d be kind of crazy if you chose him when there are so many other choices. The same thing with Morrell at 168,” said Robert.
If Benavidez is just trying to keep winning long enough for him to get the payday he’s been chasing against Canelo for the last four years, it’s understandable why he doesn’t want to fight Morrell because the chances are high that he’ll lose.
That payday goes away forever once Benavidez gets exposed by Morrell, so he’s steering clear of him, focusing on washed fighters like Jermall & Andrade. It’s smart but so utterly pathetic.
Bivol & Beterbiev = great options for Benavidez
“Go up to light heavyweight and fight Bivol or Beterbiev. I think Benavidez could beat those guys,” said Robert.
“Him [Canelo] and Eddy Reynoso have been together for so long, and they’ve had so many different fighters, so many different styles that they’ll know how to fight him [Benavidez.
It’s unlikely that Benavidez will go anywhere near WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol or IBF/WBC/WBO champ Artur Beterbiev.
Although Benavidez has been name-dropping Bivol’s name, that seems to have been done more for clout-chasing purposes to build his fame the cheap way by mentioning Canelo’s conqueror to try to show gullible boxing fans that he’s ready to fight this guy, but in reality, he will star as far away as possible to the Russian talent.
It’s sneaky for Benavidez to be floating names that he has no real intention of fighting, but name-dropping works to impressive naive, impressionable fans.
“They could find a way to beat him. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’d pick Benavidez, but does Canelo have a great chance? Of course, he has a great chance,” said Robert.
“He’s strong, he’s solid, he has a great chin too to the point where he might be able to hang in there. If he throws more punches, puts more pressure, and stays on top of him [Benavidez], he could actually beat him, maybe by decision,” said Robert.
Canelo beats Benavidez handily, but it’s still a win-win for ‘The Mexican Monster’ because he’d get the payday that he’s been after.
