Canelo says Charlo fight has more appeal than Benavidez
Come November 11, WBA super, WBO and WBC world super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KO’s) will slide through the ropes for his next bout. On that date, he will face the challenge of IBF 168-pound champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (21-0, 12 KO’s). Unfortunately for Plant, an overwhelming number of boxing enthusiasts have already counted him out. For this group, the redhead will break down and stop the IBF champion in the mid to late rounds. With this being the case, many have already begun to speculate on who Alvarez will fight next.
The first natural selection would be David “Red Flag” Benavidez (24-0, 21 KO’s). Due to his size, power, work rate and come-forward seek-and-destroy style, Red Flag is widely believed to be Alvarez’s biggest threat in the division. Not only this, the WBC title that Canelo holds is actually Benavidez’s old title. After losing his belt on the scale in his August 15, 2020 bout with Roamer Angulo, the belt was rapidly scooped up by the WBC and put up for grabs in the Canelo versus Callum Smith dustup. Obviously, the Mexican would go on to collect that title in remarkably easy fashion.
WAVING THE RED FLAG!
Given the fact that David Benavidez did not lose the title in the ring, and is a legitimate threat, this remains a must-see for boxing fans. For his part, Red Flag has regularly called for the fight. Despite how much outside forces and individuals want to see the match-up however, it does not appear to be one high on Canelo’s list. If not directly asked by someone, it’s outrageously rare that you’ll hear the redhead bring up Benavidez…if ever at all.
WBC middleweight champion Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (32-0, 22 KO’s) is another name that’s routinely tossed in the hat when dreaming up fights for Alvarez. Like Benavidez, Charlo is an undefeated, crowd-friendly boxer that represents a very dangerous night in the office for Canelo. Also, like Red Flag, Jermall Charlo has called for the Alvarez bout more times than Vin Diesel has said the word ‘Groot.’
Sadly, just like with David Benavidez once again, the Mexican superstar has not shown any meaningful interest in dancing with Charlo. Yet, in a recent interview on the Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer, the redhead gave an interesting response. When asked directly who he preferred to fight next between the two, Canelo answered with a simple:
“Charlo.”
WILL IT BE DOOR #1 OR DOOR #2?
Some might find this retort a bit puzzling. The reason being that, again, Canelo Alvarez has never really shown any native interest in battling Jermall Charlo. Going a step further, they no longer reside in the same division. So why the redhead finds the Hit Man to be such an appealing opponent is anyone’s guess. Especially since the Benavidez prizefight is much more relevant to his current situation. From a purely business side though, perhaps Canelo believes that a Charlo bout would generate the most money. Pessimists might argue it’s due to the somewhat shaky performance the Hit Man displayed in his last duel.
In any event, before we or Canelo can get too lost in our imaginations, Alvarez must first beat Caleb Plant. Sure there are large scores of people planning and waiting on his downfall, but that particular outcome is not written in stone. Provided Alvarez came to the ring half-stepping, or overlooking Plant, he could very easily lose his trio of titles. With that being said, let’s first get a definitive conclusion to the Alvarez vs Plant dustup. Then we can safely apply the pressure to get one of these two great matchups.
By: Bakari Simpson
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