Via Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz says Canelo Alvarez is NOT one of the options for his young star’s next game in November following a destructive third-round win over David Lemieux last Saturday night.
Lewkowicz doubts that former four-time world champion Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) will rematch after losing to Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
If Canelo continues his career, Lewkowicz believes it will be a matchup against 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin, NOT Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs).
Even though the walls are quickly closing in on Canelo to force him to fight Benavidez in the end, he still has room to wriggle around to delay the fight.
There are three fights Canelo will take on before he gets boxed, and he has no choice but to face Benavidez.
Canelo will likely take on these three before he has no choice but to face Benavidez: Gennadiy Golovkin, Dmitry Bivol & Jermall Charlo.
Lewkowicz lists three options for Benavidez’s next fight:
- Caleb . Factory
- David Morrell Jr
- Jermall Charlo
Of those three, Lewkowicz believes former IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) is the most likely to face Benavidez in November.
“What I am saying is exactly the truth and I want people to put it on a black and white background,” said the Benavidez promoter. Sampson Lewkowicz at the press conference after the fight last Saturday night.
“We have three options for November. The first option is [Caleb] Plants. The second option is [David] Morrell, and the third one is [Jermall] Charles. There is nothing else.
“Canelo is not happening, so don’t continue to fantasize, all of you, into Canelo. He will NOT be one step ahead to fight the REAL champion, everyone’s champion. So let’s not talk about Canelo anymore. It doesn’t exist, and he looks so bad [after loss to Dmitry Bivol], I don’t believe he will come back.
“Maybe he will marry a 40 year old man [Gennadiy Golovkin], but other than that, he will NOT do anything else. So please stop watching Canelo. It’s not happening, and it will NEVER happen very likely,” Lewkowicz said, believing Canelo may never face Benavidez.
Lewkowicz may be right to suspect that Canelo will choose not to take on Benavidez, and that’s an obvious scenario.
One big reason Canelo may never face Benavidez is that he could lose to one or all of the next three opponents. Canelo looked intimidating as he lost to 175-lb WBA champion Bivol on May 7.
It doesn’t take a genius like Albert Einstein to tell you that Canelo will likely lose to Bivol in the rematch if he dares to land one. Golovkin has a chance to defeat Canelo because all he has to do is follow the blueprint created by Bivol.
He exposed it Canelo on the shell when his opponent throws combinations and he can’t counter them. The only time Canelo has the ability to counter-attack is when his opponent throws single shots, as we saw in his two matches against Golovkin.
The Kazakh boxer launched only one punch at a time, helping Canelo counterattack effectively. To defeat Canelo, You have to overwhelm his defenses by throwing sustainable combinations.
That hole has been around since day one of Canelo’s career, but his opposition trainers were blind to spotting it. If Golovkin throws tenacious synergies the way Bivol did, he will beat Canelo on September 17.
The only question is, does Golovkin have a gas tank to throw combos? This writer doubts it. As Golovkin seemed tired in his final fight against Ryota Murata on April 9, he probably couldn’t throw more than one punch without exhausting his air completely.
“There are three boys worth fighting for. I imagine Plant is the best because it’s been personal for a long time [between him and Benavidez].
“If you really want to fight, he’s ready for Plant, for Morrell, he talks too much, and Charlo. Charlo deserves a tough decision to make, but it’s a real pay-per-view decision. So let’s not talk about Canelo anymore,” Lewkowicz said exasperatedly.
