Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez has lost only twice in 66 fights, but his former promoter Oscar De La Hoya thinks a third defeat is a sure thing if he faces David Benavidez.
De La Hoya, who promoted a large part of Canelo's career before a bitter split, believes the 28-year-old Benavidez would have an easy time against the Mexican superstar. He explained his reasoning in a recent interview.
"I think Benavidez will win and will win easy. He has the better arsenal, he has the better footwork, the jab is incredible and just the fact that he's young. You really have to look at that, it's like De La Hoya-Chavez will be Benavidez-Canelo, I actually think they'll be the same age and Benavidez is the bigger guy."
The comparison to De La Hoya's own fight against Julio Cesar Chavez is telling. De La Hoya sees Benavidez as the younger, fresher fighter with superior skills, much like he was against Chavez.
Canelo's not sitting idle, though. He's set to defend his undisputed super-middleweight titles against William Scull next month. There's also talk of a mega-fight against pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford in September.
De La Hoya acknowledges Canelo's contributions to boxing. He said, "Canelo has done great for the sport, obviously we built him but he has done amazing, is still doing amazing but is he slowing down? Naturally, he's getting older."
The former promoter doesn't think he's being unfair to Canelo. He pointed out, "Look, I'm not knocking him. I'm the one who got him a $365million contract, why would I be knocking him, it's just ridiculous. When I say something about Canelo it's criticising something inside the ring because I can, I'm a fighter myself and I can critique and I have my opinion just as a fighter."
Benavidez recently moved up to light heavyweight after getting frustrated waiting for a fight with Canelo. He's now the WBC champion at 175 pounds. If Canelo decides to move back up to that weight class, where he's had mixed results before, Benavidez could be waiting.
For now, Canelo's focus is on his upcoming fights. But in the boxing world, the debate about how he'd fare against Benavidez will likely continue.
