By: Hans Themistode
There appears to be a growing amount of frustration for Eddy Reynoso whenever David Benavidez is brought up in conversations.
By and large, Canelo Alvarez, Reynoso’s premier current fighter, is considered the best in the sport. Although many have struggled to name a worthy challenger, Benavidez has emerged as the one fighter who can truly push Alvarez to his limits.
In back-to-back weekends, both Alvarez and Benavidez made explosive returns to the ring. On November 6th, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Alvarez took care of business against former 168-pound belt holder Caleb Plant, stopping him in the 11th round. In doing so, Alvarez became the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time.
One week later, at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, Benavidez scored a knockout victory of his own. On the night, the former two-time super middleweight belt holder easily stopped Kyrone Davis in the seventh round of their showdown.
Considering the fashion in which Benavidez dominated, the 24-year-old is viewed as one of the top challengers for Alvarez and his super middleweight thrown. However, while Reynoso confesses that Benavidez is immensely talented, as he gazes upon his short resume, he isn’t convinced that Benavidez has done enough to earn a shot at Alvarez.
“David Benavidez is a good fighter,” said Reynoso to FOX Deportes. “But for me, he has not achieved what people think. My respects to him but how many champions has he beaten? How many defenses has he made? How many unifications has he completed?
In spite of Reynoso questioning the level of opposition Benavidez has faced, he’s currently ranked number one in the WBC sanctioning body. With that said, he doesn’t appear on track to land a showdown with Alvarez anytime soon.
Since snagging every world title at 168 pounds, Alvarez has opted to bypass defending his crown in his next ring appearance. He’s also decided against moving up to the light heavyweight division. Instead, Alvarez has set his sights on Ilunga Makabu and his WBC cruiserweight crown.
Though nothing is set in stone, Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the WBC sanctioning body, has agreed to allow Alvarez to challenge Makabu in either May or June of 2022. If Alvarez is successful, he’ll become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win world titles in five different weight classes.
