Demetrius Andrade warns Canelo Alvarez to avoid his former conqueror, David Benavidez, after losing to him by a sixth-round stoppage in 2023. Andrade thinks Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is too big and throws too many combinations for Canelo to defeat him.
It’s understandable why Demetrius is trying to make Benavidez sound invincible because that lessens the impact of his defeat against him. He took an ego hit in that fight, suffering his first career loss. So, he’s trying to protect his ego by making Benavidez sound like he’s some outstanding talent when in reality, he’s not.
Benavidez’s Next Opponent
We saw that in his fight against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th. Gvozdyk had recently come out of a four-year retirement and out-punched Benavidez, putting all kinds of lumps on his face.
Canelo hasn’t mentioned wanting to fight ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, and the two fighters are now competing in different weight classes. Benavidez, 28, is fighting at light heavyweight and will challenge WBA regular 175-lb champion David Morrell in 33 days on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If Benavidez loses that fight by knockout, he may return to the 168-lb division if he can still make weight. It would be useless for him to stay at 175 if Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) destroys him. Morrell is just as big as Benavidez but faster, hits harder, younger, and has better technical skills.
There’s a good chance that Morrell will win that fight and permanently take care of Canelo’s problem, not that he needs help. Andrade, 36, may be impressed by Benavidez’s offensive skills, but he’s not a knockout puncher. He couldn’t even stop Caleb Plant.
The only reason he stopped Andrade is because of his size and youth advantage. He was 26 when he defeated Demetrius last year on November 25th.
Don’t Do It!
“I don’t think Canelo is beating David [Benavidez]. I don’t blame him not to fight David. Canelo, stay away from David. Don’t do it,” said Demetrius Andrade to Fight Hub TV. “I’m taller and longer than Canelo. I don’t know if Canelo [can beat Benavidez]. That’s a big boy.
“You’ve got to have the right skill set, movement, IQ, sharpness to beat David unless David fights the next biggest man at 175 is going to be a different story. But at 168, that’s how you have to be to beat him.
“Canelo is smaller than me, and I was able to push David around for a few rounds and do what I have to do whatever. But that weight and his length, and he knows how to throw punches in bunches, it’s going to be a hard task for Canelo.
“David is not someone that is going to let up on you either. Canelo is not beating him,” said Andrade about his belief that Benavidez can’t be beat by Alvarez.
Canelo would have fought Benavidez by now, but he talked so much trash and came across as needy. The way Benavidez has seemed fixated on Alvarez is scary, almost like a stalker. For any popular fighter to have someone sound so obsessed with the way Benavidez has come across, they would ignore him, too.
