Canelo Alvarez Must Face David Benavidez to Be Truly Undisputed
In his last tour of duty, two-time super middleweight champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO’s) stomped a hole in and stopped amateur standout, former Olympian and two-division champion Demetrius Andrade. With the vicious victory under his belt, Benavidez has put tremendous pressure on undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KO’s) to face him.
The impressive win has effectively underscored the realization that the most fearsome and accomplished adversary that Canelo has in the division is Benavidez. Furthermore, the two have been on a collision course since the moment that the redhead entered the division. In fact, some say that Alvarez should have fought The Mexican Monster quite some time ago. This is because, aside from Benavidez being a very tough out, The Mexican Monster was stripped of the WBC belt for activities outside the ring.
LAST TWO STANDING
At this point in time, there is no other fight for Canelo outside of David Benavidez. Benavidez has remained Alvarez’s mandatory for a couple years, has looked fantastic in his recent bouts and has relentlessly called for the match. Not to mention, the boxing public is all but foaming at the mouth craving this potential showdown.
Even better, Canelo recently signed to a three-fight deal with Benavidez’s Premier Boxing Champions promotional outfit. Therefore, there are no conflicting promotional hurdles preventing the duel. If Alvarez wants to be recognized as the true king of the division, and the face of the sport, then he needs to take care of this piece of business.
This is not the time for any more jumping around divisions. Nor should the redhead seduce any more name brand boxers up several divisions to fight, as was the case when Canelo just fought undisputed super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo. Even now, there is a strong possibility that Alvarez may face unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford, who would have to leap up three divisions.
NOW OR NEVER!!
Said differently, Canelo’s position as the undisputed champion is not firm. As mentioned previously, Benavidez never lost his belt in combat but rather to politics. At the same time, there is an overwhelming amount of fans and insiders that believe The Mexican Monster has Canelo’s number.
From either angle, the redhead cannot truly say he is the king of the division with this dominant rival causing such havoc right under his nose. So, at this point, if Canelo continues to swerve around Benavidez, it’ll be hard to attribute this avoidance to anything but fear!
