BoxRec

"Canelo's Coach Does Not Believe Benavidez Has Earned a Fight"

Eddy Reynoso, the manager and head trainer of undisputed super middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, does not believe David Benavidez has achieved enough to justify an immediate fight.

Benavidez, an unbeaten two-time super middleweight champion, is pressing to get a crack at Canelo.

The WBC recently approved Canelo's request to jump up by two weight divisions, to face cruiserweight world champion Ilunga Makabu.

Also, the sanctioning body approved a fight between Benavidez and David Lemieux for the WBC interim-title at 168-pounds.

If a deal with Makabu is not finalized for next May, Benavidez is unlikely to become the backup choice.

"No way [does Canelo have to face Benavidez next]. Great boxers are the ones who beat champions. I think Benavidez is a good fighter, but up until this point, for me he has not achieved what people think," Reynoso explained to Fox Deportes.

"My respects to him, but just take a look [and tell me] how many world champions has he beaten, how many defenses of his title has he made, how many unifications has he completed. We are going to look for the challenges, we are going to look for the champions and we are going to look for what's best for the career of Saul, and if the fight with Benavidez comes around, then we welcome it... it's boxing and it's business."

Among their plans for 2022, Reynoso would like to see Canelo stage a big fight in Mexico.

"We would like [to stage a fight at the Azteca Stadium], it is the project we had in mind for this year. We missed the December date, which is when we wanted to do a fight in Mexico City or Guadalajara... that's what we want do next year. We want to fight on our land, where Saul made his pro debut."

Thoughts?

Canelo will be approaching 32 years of age the next time he enters the ring during Cinco de Mayo weekend for his historical cruiserweight debut against Ilunga Makabu.

I feel Canelo has bigger fish to fry, because bouts against Beterbiev and Bivol, are far more meaningful than against the unproven undisciplined Benavidez.

Canelo needs to appreciate the likelihood that he may have already peaked, meaning that he needs to solely focus on the biggest available bouts prior to his inevitable decline.

If David Benavidez proves himself, by beating a notable name, someone like a Gilberto Ramirez, Jermall Charlo or a Demetrius Andrade, then he would have earned the right to be regarded as an opponent Canelo should seriously consider fighting.

That's nonsense, Benavidez is the best opponent at SMW, whom Canelo hasn't faced. The thing is, there're bigger matchups outside of SMW or against those guys, who aren't currently at this weight, but can move there.

Of course he doesn’t.

DrDuke wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 10:28 That's nonsense, Benavidez is the best opponent at SMW, whom Canelo hasn't faced. The thing is, there're bigger matchups outside of SMW or against those guys, who aren't currently at this weight, but can move there.

This is a sport, or supposed to be.

It should not be up to Canelo to decide who he is going to face next, or he's going to avoid next.

The fans should appreciate that before handing their money over to him.

Thomastearns wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 16:43

DrDuke wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 10:28 That's nonsense, Benavidez is the best opponent at SMW, whom Canelo hasn't faced. The thing is, there're bigger matchups outside of SMW or against those guys, who aren't currently at this weight, but can move there.

This is a sport, or supposed to be.

It should not be up to Canelo to decide who he is going to face next, or he's going to avoid next.

The fans should appreciate that before handing their money over to him.

If a 100m sprinter decides to make the switch to 400m running, should they be prevented from doing so?

If a boxer decides to compete in a different weight class, should they be prevented from doing so?

Are you saying that fight fans should determine the destiny of fighters?

The answer to all three questions must be the same two letter response.

benavidez hasnt earned a fight at all

accomplished very very little, beat none of the other top guys, 2x lost belt due to his lack of discpline and so has no belt for nelo. over the last year only beat amazing fighters ky davis and ron ellis

now, if canelo wants to give him a chance, then hey, go for it

Makuba has though, since he earned it by getting knocked out by bellew

Logic 101

none of these dudes put themselves at the head of the pack or earned it in an unavoidable way, bert at least had an elite win and bivol had a good series of wins, but even they went back to nothing but lame fights. none of them have any legit ground to be moaners about canelo not fighting them. instead of beating other top guys, they been twiddling their thumbs and fighting bums

its up to canelo, he's basically a charity right now. who will he gift.

benavidez aint doint sh!t more impressive lately than makabu anyway. f@cking ky davis and ron ellis dudes. a legendary series of fights with ron gavril. too fat and coked out to make more than 1 title defense over 2 reigns. between makabu's win over mchunu and several wins over guys who were decent unbeaten prospects, hes earned no less than dave has

im not denying benavide'z obvious talent and will not complain at all if he got a shot (hes a good fighter, would be interesting matchup), but let's be real, none of these cats really earned it

I agree canelos team doesnt have to justify it. Just fight who you want

He absolutely has not. His resume is weak, and he missed weight recently. If benavidez wanted to fight canelo he should of gritted it out in the Sauna and kept his title.

Jeff_lacy_ko wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 19:54 Makuba has though, since he earned it by getting knocked out by bellew

Logic 101

?? Makabu is on a 9-fight win streak. He's coming off wins against Durodola, Cieslak, and Kudryashov. You're seriously bringing-up a loss from 2016?

I'd like Benavidez to have a challenge. Ryder maybe?
Good job on Canelo's team trying to stop this holding pattern for a payday crap.
Benavidez wants a big fight after doing stuff all for two years?
Nah.

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 19:21

Thomastearns wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 16:43

DrDuke wrote: ↑22 Nov 2021, 10:28 That's nonsense, Benavidez is the best opponent at SMW, whom Canelo hasn't faced. The thing is, there're bigger matchups outside of SMW or against those guys, who aren't currently at this weight, but can move there.

This is a sport, or supposed to be.

It should not be up to Canelo to decide who he is going to face next, or he's going to avoid next.

The fans should appreciate that before handing their money over to him.

If a 100m sprinter decides to make the switch to 400m running, should they be prevented from doing so?

If a boxer decides to compete in a different weight class, should they be prevented from doing so?

Are you saying that fight fans should determine the destiny of fighters?

The answer to all three questions must be the same two letter response.

Fans shouldn't determine this, but some UFC style matchmaking from the governing bodies would be a good start. You certainly wouldn't get fighters ducking each other if they were given no choice. Problem is, promoters have interests other than making the best fights, and the governing bodies are useless and corrupt, so no help there either.

David Benavidez is one of those fighters that bizarrely receives an honorary rite of passage to being regarded as the best super-middleweight only the planet (from those not named Canelo) from fight fans, without even needing to face any decent opponents.

He seems to receive kudos from certain fans for theoretical “victories” (based solely on opinions/expectation), with the same mentally deranged individuals also choosing to criticise other fighters for their real-world wins.

But lets’ not pretend that Benavidez’s lack of career progression is due to him being allegedly “fearsome” or the “Boogeyman” at 168lbs, because:

• Benavidez only engaged in 15 amateur bouts and didn’t achieve anything notable.

• Seven months after signing a four-year contract extension, four-year contract extension with his existing promoter, Sampson Boxing, he accepted (and then had to return) a $250K sign-on bonus payment he wrongly accepted from Top Rank to join Bob Arum’s stable.

• He failed an out-of-competition drug test when he tested positive for a component of cocaine (benzoylecgonine). He admitted to making a mistake, was stripped of his WBC title and also received a four months suspension.

• He failed to make weight for his fight against Roamer Alexis (by a 3lbs margin) and was subsequently stripped of his WBC title for the second time.

• He rejected an opportunity to face the current WBC middleweight titleholder, Jermall Charlo, in a catch-weight bout.

• He has been inactive. The Kyrone Davis bout was only Benavidez’s fifth fight during a 45-month timeframe.

• Benavidez’s career best victories have come against a past-his-prime iteration of Anthony Dirrell and Ronald Gavril.

• Benavidez’s most recent outing was against the unrated Kyrone Davis - a natural middleweight that only received 16 days’ notice (having previously scored only three victories within the last four years against journeymen suffering poor form, with the only one of those wins coming against an opponent weighing more than 160lbs).

David Benavidez comes across as a nice guy though, but he’s made many poor career-based decisions and his resume is weak.

Superficially-speaking (based solely on the proverbial eyeball test), he might be good enough to give Canelo a tough time, but he has to earn the opportunity to do so, because his resume is really terrible.

mike_UK wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 04:49 Fans shouldn't determine this, but some UFC style matchmaking from the governing bodies would be a good start. You certainly wouldn't get fighters ducking each other if they were given no choice. Problem is, promoters have interests other than making the best fights, and the governing bodies are useless and corrupt, so no help there either.

I don't think fighters duck each other due to fear.

Most of them can't dictate which opponents they can face.

And most of them only care about their paydays, though the marquee names also apply the 'risk versus reward' ratio, because it's pointless being paid pennies today if defeat scuppers a huge payday that can be received tomorrow.

Their trainer, their manager, their promoter, their home network and the sanctioning bodies ultimately decide the destinies of most fighters.

I don't think Canelo really cares about being stripped of his 168lbs titles at this point, since he's already achieved what he needed to do at that weight class.

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 05:48

mike_UK wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 04:49 Fans shouldn't determine this, but some UFC style matchmaking from the governing bodies would be a good start. You certainly wouldn't get fighters ducking each other if they were given no choice. Problem is, promoters have interests other than making the best fights, and the governing bodies are useless and corrupt, so no help there either.

I don't think Canelo really cares about being stripped of his 168lbs titles at this point, since he's already achieved what he needed to do at that weight class.

That's very true, but Canelo is pretty unique in that he's grown bigger than the sport at this point. Belt holders like Andrade, the Charlo brothers, Spence Jr I feel have a low enough profile with a belt that without one they would be completely anonymous, so have extra motivation to do what they need to do to keep the belt. And if that means being forced into unification bouts with dangerous fighters then that surely would only benefit the sport as a whole.

mike_UK wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 05:57Belt holders like Andrade, the Charlo brothers, Spence Jr I feel have a low enough profile with a belt that without one they would be completely anonymous, so have extra motivation to do what they need to do to keep the belt. And if that means being forced into unification bouts with dangerous fighters then that surely would only benefit the sport as a whole.

These guys are going to keep damaging their own careers if they keep engaging in lacklustre bouts against mediocre opposition.

Andrade and Charlo hold titles from different governing bodies, they work with different promoters and different home networks.

So there’s no compelling reason for these guys to fight each other. And what I mean is, no one can force Charlo and Andrade to share the ring if they don't really want to.

In my mind, every world titleholder from 160lbs to 175lbs is ducking each other, because they’re scared of missing out on a Canelo lottery-winning sized mega-payday.

It’s frustrating, but it is what it is.

But what I find funny though, is that Canelo will inevitably be accused of ducking certain fighters, even though it’s impossible for him to fight everyone, despite the fact these guys are refusing to fight each other.

Imo the only way for Benavidez to try to get a good opponent is to move up at 175 and challenge Zurdo Ramirez or the 175 champions.



Indeed his resume is poor.

Canelo will retire before fighting Benevidez. Of course he hasn't earned it, but Khan, Fielding, JCC jr, and Yildrim sure did though.

Bandog wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 08:48 Canelo will retire before fighting Benevidez. Of course he hasn't earned it, but Khan, Fielding, JCC jr, and Yildrim sure did though.

Khan was a name, JCC Jr was a name in Mexico, Fielding had a belt and Yildrim was a mandatory wasn't he? Benevidez has no profile, belt or mandatory status.

mike_UK wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 09:02

Bandog wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 08:48 Canelo will retire before fighting Benevidez. Of course he hasn't earned it, but Khan, Fielding, JCC jr, and Yildrim sure did though.

Khan was a name, JCC Jr was a name in Mexico, Fielding had a belt and Yildrim was a mandatory wasn't he? Benevidez has no profile, belt or mandatory status.

So it's more about having a name, not a challenge? Please, Canelo should just stick to "I'll fight who I want". At least that is honest, free from spin and BS.

Bandog wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 09:15

mike_UK wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 09:02

Bandog wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 08:48 Canelo will retire before fighting Benevidez. Of course he hasn't earned it, but Khan, Fielding, JCC jr, and Yildrim sure did though.

Khan was a name, JCC Jr was a name in Mexico, Fielding had a belt and Yildrim was a mandatory wasn't he? Benevidez has no profile, belt or mandatory status.

So it's more about having a name, not a challenge? Please, Canelo should just stick to "I'll fight who I want". At least that is honest, free from spin and BS.

I get what you're saying, but at this point Canelo's name is so big that to maintain his profile and the expectation placed on him he needs to be fighting for belts or huge names at any weight class he can conceivably make the cut for. Benavidez I don't think fits in either of those categories.

Bandog wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 09:15

mike_UK wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 09:02

Bandog wrote: ↑23 Nov 2021, 08:48 Canelo will retire before fighting Benevidez. Of course he hasn't earned it, but Khan, Fielding, JCC jr, and Yildrim sure did though.

Khan was a name, JCC Jr was a name in Mexico, Fielding had a belt and Yildrim was a mandatory wasn't he? Benevidez has no profile, belt or mandatory status.

So it's more about having a name, not a challenge?

Boxing has always been that way.

A fighter earns the right to engage in marquee bouts.

A fighter shouldn't just build a statistically impressive resume by facing over-matched mediocre opposition and then expect to massive payday opportunities to be handed to them on a plate.

Benavidez has a weak resume.

Benavidez should move up at 175 and challenge Zurdo Ramirez or the 175 champions.

At 168 are fights with Lemieux, maybe Jacobs and Plant.