Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez has an argument for the best chin in the business.
In 65 fights, the Mexican has never once been put down, even despite facing big punchers like Gennady Golovkin, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Sergey Kovalev and James Kirkland – the man he credits with hitting him the hardest.
Alvarez rarely looks in trouble in the ring and even his two defeats against Floyd Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol were down to smart boxing rather than all out fighting.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, former Canelo promoter turned bitter rival Oscar De La Hoya believes that will all change if the 34-year-old unified super-middleweight champion accepts the challenge from one David Benavidez.
“I think he knocks him out. Benavidez is a monster. He throws literally an average of above 50 to 55 punches a round. Canelo and Charlo, in the first round they threw one punch. Combined.
I’m not talking to you as ‘oh I hate Canelo or oh I hate Benavidez,’ no I’m talking [as] a boxing expert. Those are the facts. That’s reality on paper.
Now, what happens in the ring when the bell rings? If Canelo lands that one bomb that he always throws, the right hand, I mean it’s sayonara. It’s game over for Benavidez. But I think Benavidez, because he’s young, strong, very versatile and throws a lot of punches, he’s gonna cause problems for Canelo.”
Benavidez is an all-action pressure fighter who rarely takes a backwards step and often breaks down opponents through sheer volume. He has 24 knockouts from 29 wins and is yet to taste defeat.
A former two-time super-middleweight champion himself, Benavidez has been chasing the bout for some time. He fought his way into the mandatory position for Canelo’s WBC belt with solid wins over the likes of David Lemieux, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade. When no order was made, the 27-year-old decided to move up to light-heavyweight.
