Canelo Álvarez vs William Scull OFFICIAL for May 3rd

Can we get Canelo Beterbiev already?

 

In my opinion we will never see Canelo - Beterbiev, the Mexican avoided Benavidez for two years and in the light heavyweight he suffered a large defeat by Bivol (115 - 113 is a joke). So I don't think he wants to fight against Beterbiev, despite the 40 years the Russian is still a top fighter.

In fact Canelo prefers to face Crawford, an undefeated phenomenon who fought the first match of his career in the super welterweight last year at 37 years old and who in September will face Canelo in the super middleweight....

 

He won't beat Crawford and I'm sure they will fight a rematch. I doubt beterbiev vs canelo would happen

 

And he won't beat Crawford in the initial fight or the rematch

 

I would honestly be surprised if Canelo didn't win clearly, I think the weight classes are there for a reason. But, as always, the ring has the final say.

 

canelo is a blown up welter on peds. both similar in size. the size diff betwwen canelo and benevidez is much greater then canelo crawford. youll see that.
Two diff tier fighters.

 

Canelo will take whatever fight pays the most, but is also less risky. I honestly believe that if Canelo had to choose between Scull and Benavidez, he would take the Benavidez fight because it would be the superior payday.
But he keeps getting offered easier fights for lots of money, so he is taking them. Hes just comfortably sitting at 168 and enjoying the paydays that are coming to him.

 

Regarding Benavidez, in my opinion Canelo really wants to avoid him. The American was the most accredited challenger for Canelo for 2 years in the super middleweights (David won a WBC title eliminator in 2021 and was 'Interim' WBC world champion in 2022 and 2023) and the Mexican avoided him. I don't know how much money the Mexican can ask now to face Benavidez.....I think we will never see that match. While I agree that Canelo wants to have as little risk as possible.

 

I think differently. For me they are not similar in size, Canelo has had the right body size for a super middleweight for a few years. Crawford on the other hand is smaller structurally, and in fact he moved up to super welterweight (two categories below super middleweight) last year.

Benavidez fought in the same category as Canelo for years, super middleweight, and was his official challenger. So Benavidez - Canelo would have been a much more natural fight than Crawford - Canelo, instead we will see the latter in September.

 

I do think we should add some context to that timeline. Canelo moved to 168 in late 2020(the same year Benavidez lost his belt for the second time), he then unified the division and had a deal with DAZN to fight Bivol, followed by the third Golovkin fight. So IMO it´s not fair to say that Canelo ducked Benavidez in 2021. And mind you, Yildrimlol was the WBC mandatory in 2021.
And by 2022 what exactly had Benavidez done? He had two comeback fights in 2021 and then fought Lemieux in 2022. I for one do not fault Canelo picking Bivol and Golovkin over Benavidez.

But in 2023 Benavidez undoubtedly cemented himself as THE top contender for Canelo with the Plant win. Andrade was the cherry on top.
But Benavidez then moved up to 175 in 2024...

 

We have different opinions, in my opinion Canelo clearly avoided Benavidez, he was the most credible challenger for him in the super middleweight.

Regarding Yildrim, he was the official WBC challenger when he faced Canelo (February 2021), not after. Benavidez won a WBC title eliminator in March 2021, a month after Canelo defeated Yildrim (who when he faced Canelo had not fought for 2 years, that is, since 2019, when he lost to Dirrell.....).

 

[

His last 7 fights have been for less money than he would get for a Benavidez fight, so saying if he had the choice of Scull he would choose Benavidez is nonsense. He does not keep getting offered easier fights, he is demanding them.

After Canelo ducked him and chose Mungia Berlanga and tried to fight Eubank Jnr.

 

I should have clarified: If Canelo did not get these ridiculous guarantees from promoters and networks, he would fight Benavidez. But why would he fight Benavidez if his guarantee for someone like Scull or Munguia is the same?
Canelo could have fought Benavidez in 2023, but first took an easy payday against Ryder. Then PBC offered him a ridiculous deal to fight Charlo. So he has no incentive to take risks when low risk fights are paying so well.

If this were 2015, Canelo would have taken the Benavidez fight.

 

I didn´t say that Benavidez wasn´t avoided, I just disagreed with the timeline.

 

No problem, often the alphabet band only creates confusion, for me the only world title that is credible is the Ring Magazine one (and also its rankings are the best in my opinion)

I appreciate that you recognize the fact that Canelo avoided Benavidez, this means being objective, in other places I have seen Canelo fans who were not at all. Obviously without taking anything away from Canelo, from the good things he has done and from his best victories (which for me are the ones with Trout and Jacobs ).