Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez has been told he must fight David Benavidez to be the "true king" of the weight class.
Alvarez recently moved up to light-heavyweight for the first time in three years after becoming undisputed at 168lbs last November. The Mexican came up short in his bid at 175lb against Dmitry Bivol, suffering his first defeat in almost a decade after being outpointed by the Russian.
Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn has said Alvarez will soon decide whether to rematch Bivol or pursue a trilogy with Gennady Golovkin in September. Golovkin set up a trilogy fight with his longtime rival Alvarez by stopping Ryota Murata in April.
But legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas thinks Alvarez needs to move back down to light heavyweight for a fight with Benavidez, writing on Twitter : "If Canelo wants to be considered true ging at 168 he needs to see Benavidez and he’s too big and strong for [Jermall] Charlo."
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Benavidez recently extended his unbeaten run to 26 fights, picking up his sixth consecutive knockout win when he stopped David Lemieux last weekend. Speaking after his win, Benavidez explained why he thinks a clash with Alvarez is long overdue.
“I feel like I was the No.1 contender already when I won the title eliminator [in March 2021]. Now, I won the [WBC] interim title. So it was two fights. I was the #1 contender, so I do feel like I deserve it. I put the work in,” he said. Benavidez's promoter insisted a fight with Alvarez is dead and buried after his recent loss. He thinks three realistic opponents for Benavidez next are Caleb Plant, David Morrell or Charlo.
“All of you, please don’t continue fantasising on Canelo,” Benavidez’s promoter told reporters. “He will not take a step ahead to fight the real champion, the champion of the people. Let’s not talk anymore about Canelo. It doesn’t exist. “He looked so bad [against Bivol] that I don’t think he can come back. Maybe he can take it as a 40-year-old man. Besides that, he will not do nothing else. So please, don’t talk about Canelo. It won’t happen and will likely never happen.”
“We have three options in November. One is Plant. The second one is Morrell. The other is Charlo. Canelo doesn’t happen. Those are the three options. So please, let’s not talk about Canelo."
