By: Hans Themistode
There’s a long list of fighters that have the credentials and ability to stake their claim as the best in the world. None, by and large, have a firmer ground to stand on than Canelo Alvarez.
The Mexican star has spent the second half of his career picking up numerous world titles while leaving a trail of fallen great fighters in the process. With victories against Sergey Kovalev, Daniel Jacobs, Gennadiy Golovkin, Callum Smith, and Billy Joe Saunders, Alvarez has firmly entrenched himself as the consensus pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.
Still, even with a proliferation of achievements, David Benavidez is confident in his ability to knock Alvarez off his high horse.
“I feel like I can beat him,” said Benavidez during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “I see a lot of things that I know I can take advantage of.”
Benavidez’s self-belief isn’t simply rooted in the work he’s put in when the cameras aren’t rolling in the gym. No, more than anything, Benavidez has watched from a distance each and every time Alvarez has stepped foot inside the ring. While he continues to rack up wins, Benavidez has picked on a glaring pattern of the skillset, or, lack thereof, of Alvarez’s recent opposition.
“The thing about Canelo’s opponents, they haven’t really had power. The last ones haven’t really had power. You need power to keep Canelo off you or else he’s going to be there all night. That’s the thing with me, I feel like I’m the hardest hitter at 168. I got a great jab, great body shots, great speed and I put on a lot of pressure too.”
Up until fairly recently, a showdown against Alvarez wasn’t exactly on the radar of Benavidez. However, with Mexican product audaciously planting his flag in the 168 pound division, Benavidez views their counter as inevitable.
Nevertheless, before a matchup between the pair can materialize, both Benavidez and Alvarez have business to attend to. In the case of Benavidez, he has a date set up with former IBF super middleweight belt holder Jose Uzcategui on November 13th. Alvarez, on the other hand, will look to permanently etch his name in boxing’s history books as he’ll attempt to become the division’s first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time.
Admittedly, Benavidez expects Alvarez to dispatch of Plant fairly easily. He also anticipates Alvarez being able to continue his reign at the top of the super middleweight charts for the foreseeable future. Unless, of course, Benavidez gets his crack at him fairly soon.
“I know that I’m going to be the one to beat Canelo.”
