Canelo Alvarez continues to dominate the super-middleweight division, leaving fans and experts wondering who can challenge his reign. Shannon Briggs, the former world heavyweight champion, thinks he knows the answer.
Alvarez has built an impressive career record of 62 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws. Many consider him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. At super-middleweight, he's undefeated with wins over big names like Gennady Golovkin, Caleb Plant, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and most recently, Edgar Berlanga in September.
The Mexican legend has only tasted defeat twice in his career. Floyd Mayweather got the better of him at super-welterweight back in 2013, and Dmitry Bivol beat him when he moved up to light-heavyweight in 2022.
In a recent interview with AB Boxing News, Shannon Briggs was asked who could potentially dethrone Canelo. His answer was short and to the point:
"Benavidez."
David Benavidez has an impressive record of his own. He's undefeated in 29 fights, with 24 of those wins coming by knockout. He used to hold the WBC super-middleweight title but lost it when he missed weight. Recently, Benavidez moved up to light-heavyweight and won the WBC interim title by beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his debut at the new weight class.
Benavidez isn't slowing down. He's got a fight lined up for January against another undefeated fighter, David Morrell. But he's made it clear he'd drop back down to 168 pounds for a shot at Canelo.
Alvarez isn't making it easy, though. He's asking for a purse between 150 and 200 million dollars to face Benavidez. That's a hefty price tag that might make the fight hard to put together.
As for Canelo's future plans, he wanted to avenge his loss to Bivol. But Bivol's recent defeat to Artur Beterbiev in October has thrown a wrench in those plans. Now, there's talk that Canelo might consider taking on Beterbiev instead.
With so many twists and turns, boxing fans will have to wait and see who ends up facing Canelo next. Will it be the undefeated Benavidez, or will someone else step up to the challenge?
