Veteran coach Abel Sanchez, known for his long-term collaboration with ex-boxing hegemon Gennady Golovkin from Kazakhstan, shared his opinion on a potential fight between the undisputed world champion Mexican super middleweight Saul Alvarez (58-2-2, 37 KOs) and American David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KO).
As always, Sanchez constantly contradicted himself.
“I think that Canelo now generally does not give a ** who and what says about him, —
smiling Sanchez. – He can afford to go even against the homeless – the fans will still be happy, but he will still earn millions. So David doesn’t need to say much. Will not help. He needs to keep winning. I think the fight will take place, but not now. What’s the point of rushing? Canelo is now 32 and Benavidez is 25. Let’s wait 2-3 years. They need to methodically pressure Canelo with talk. Just like Golovkin and I did before. After all, we also did not immediately get this fight. But we put pressure on them. We talked about the fight. And he took place. Remember, we pushed so hard that Canelo even gave up the WBC belt. That’s how to push.”
Canelo is now like Floyd Mayweather was. He decides when and with whom he fights. He dictates the terms. The fight with Benavidez will take place. Perhaps at the end of Alvarez’s career, but it will take place. Who else should he fight? Well, except perhaps with Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. There are no more rivals for him in these scales. Including Jermall Charlo is not his rival. Even if we are talking about the second Charlo (Jermell). These fighters lack consistency and performance. They look like killers in fights where everything goes in their favor. And if there are problems, then something prevents them from fighting to the limit. No, it’s definitely not cowardice. They have eggs, believe me, in place, ”Sanchez shared his expert opinion.
In his opinion, “It is Benavidez that is the most difficult fight for Canelo. Bivol? I spoke of him as a young Golovkin who is bigger and bigger. But what I don’t like about him is that he’s too boxy on defense. And in the Canelo fight, he did just that. He attacked. He stepped out of his comfort zone. I didn’t know he could do that. Therefore, he said earlier that only Beterbiev, Benavidez and Golovkin can beat Canelo. Will David be able to stop Canelo in 7 rounds like his father says? No. He went all the way with fighters who weren’t even half as good as Canelo. Remember? Some kind of Romanian … Benavidez can beat Canelo. But don’t knock out. In the same way, no one will be able to delay Golovkin. Unless with a hammer or a shotgun.”
On what Benavidez is good at: “Great reflexes, incredible anthropometry, great body work. Do you know that at the age of 16 he was in my gym and sparred with Golovkin? And at 16, he was the best sparring ever. Perhaps Gennady took into account his age, but the guy’s talent was simply obvious. And this despite the fact that then David was overweight. Yes, such a huge fat man. Incredible talent. You’ll see, his time will come. You just have to keep pushing.”
Yesterday, Benavidez freaked out: “I’ve been fighting for 10 years, give me a normal fight!” In the meantime, promoter Eddie Hearn has lashed out hard at David and other American champions. All because of Canelo.
.