Canelo Alvarez criticized David Benavidez over his lackluster performance in his debut at 175 against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Benavidez, A ‘Weakling’ at 175
Canelo feels Benavidez was a weight bully during his years fighting at 168, and now that he’s forced to fight in a division more suited to his body at 175, he’s the equivalent of Superman stuck in a room filled with strength-draining kryptonite. Benavidez is now a weakling.
Alvarez points out that Benavidez isn’t the same fighter at 175, competing against guys his own size. He feels Benavidez will amount to “nothing,” and that’s an opinion echoed by many fans who watched his fight against Gvozdyk.
The ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez showed that he’s not on the level of the killers at 175, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“I think that’s his weight class. 175 lbs. And you can see he’s very different. He can’t do nothing with a fighter who retired in 2019. It’s different when you’re in your weight class and fighting with guys in your weight,” said Canelo Alvarez to the Pound 4 Pound YouTube channel, talking about David Benavidez’s drop off of ability when he moved up from 168 to 175 to face former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk last June.
A Predictable and Vulnerable Fighter
Many of the contenders at 175 will likely feast on Benavidez, taking advantage of his lack of power and a bad habit of standing directly in front of his opposition, throwing nonstop punches.
At 168, Benavidez could get away with this fighting style because he is huge for the division, but at 175, he can’t do that without getting his head taken off by the stronger fighters of equal size.
Benavidez’s performance, which had been dominant at 168, showed his power wasn’t the same at 175. Moreover, without his size advantage, Benavidez is an average fighter who throws a lot of punches but is there to be hit by the stronger fighters.
What’s more worrisome is the lack of stamina Benavidez at 175. He was tired after six rounds, and Gvozdyk beat him like a drum in the last half of the fight. He appeared to lose the entire second half of the fight, which should have made it a draw, but not in this case.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) labored to a twelve-round unanimous decision in a fight that was far closer than the scores the three Nevada judges turned in. It was almost a draw in reality, but the judges gave Benavidez a wide decision.
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