Promoter Eddie Hearn points out an important concern for Canelo Alvarez involving a super middleweight mega-fight against David Benavidez about his extreme rehydration after weighing in.
As Canelo mentioned this week, Benavidez has a habit of gaining back 25 lbs after weighing 168, making him a cruiserweight on the night of the fight. Why does Benavidez choose to fight at super middleweight rather than cruiserweight? The reason is obvious.
Is Benavidez a Weight Bully?
There’s no money in the 200-lb division. It’s dead and barren in terms of stars, and it would be dangerous for Benavidez, given that he would have to fight killers his size, like Jai Opetaia, who has one-punch power.
Benavidez’s style of standing directly in front of his opposition, trying to bury them with an avalanche of punches, would put him in the direct line of fire of Opetaia’s huge shots. The results would be too bad to even think about.
Benavidez would be meteor dust, and his career would be in shambles. Hence, he drains to 168, calling out smaller fighters like Canelo 24/7. Some would say Benavidez is a classic example of a weight bully, and that wouldn’t be far off the mark.
The 27-year-old Benavidez can do this due to his youth, considering it becomes difficult for fighters to game the system this way to fight well outside their weight class once they reach their 30s.
A Cruiserweight in Disguise?
- Promoter Eddie Hearn discusses Benavidez’s massive weight gain after he weighed in at the 168-pound super middleweight limit: “You’re talking about a guy [Benavidez] who will hydrate somewhere between 20 and 30 pounds.
- What this means is Benavidez could walk into the ring around 200 lbs or more for a fight against Canelo, giving him a massive size advantage over the superstar.
- Hearn remarks on Benavidez’s tremendous size advantage: “He’ll have at least a stone on Canelo, so it’s a tough fight.”
Weight Gamesmanship
Canelo’s issues with the massive rehydration that Benavidez does involves a sense of fairness. We’re talking about a fighter, Benavidez, who is gaming the system by draining down a lot of weight and then rehydrating to cruiserweight, giving him an unfair advantage against opposition at super middleweight
This obviously factors into Canelo’s lack of interest in fighting Benavidez, knowing that he’s a cruiserweight in disguise. It wouldn’t be a problem for Canelo if he rehydrated to around 200 lbs, but he doesn’t. He’s small, even for the 168-lb division.
