Unified light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion David Benavidez has declared that he would have defeated Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez if their teams had finalized a contract during Benavidez's reign at 168 pounds.
The undefeated boxer expressed absolute confidence in a recent interview, stating, 'I am 100% confident in what I can do, and if I had fought Canelo at that time, I would also beat him.'
Negotiations and Weight Issues
Benavidez noted that talks peaked after he lost a world title on the scales in 2020. That led sanctioning bodies to redirect Alvarez's mandatory defenses toward lower-ranked opponents.
'I was about 24 when he moved up, but I didn't make weight and lost the title,' Benavidez explained.
'If he wanted that fight, it was easy to make because he had his first WBC defense against Yildirim.
But he went another route.'
Benavidez attributed the lack of a contract to his own attributes, claiming Alvarez's team intentionally avoided the matchup.
'I have speed, strength, defense, everything.
That's why he never fought me—because he knows I have many things that can complicate the fight for him,' Benavidez concluded.
Currently, Benavidez is organizing unification bouts at higher weights, targeting opponents like Noel Mikaelian or Dmitry Bivol.
His team demands a strict 175-pound limit for any future negotiations with Alvarez.
