Canelo Alvarez returned to the super-middleweight throne, winning back his WBC title last weekend.
Now, talk of a potential rematch with Terence Crawford is rife again and pound-for-pound star David Benavidez has offered his verdict on the legendary duo’s possible second encounter.
Crawford bested Alvarez to claim the undisputed super-middleweight cron in an iconic showdown last September and retired soon after what was undoubtedly a career-best win.
As a result, the titles became fragmented, but Canelo bounced back from defeat at the weekend to dethrone one of the four new champions, Christian Mbilli, and regain the WBC super-middleweight belt.
During the aftermath, Canelo named Crawford as his number one target, as the four-division world champion seeks to tempt ‘Bud’ out of retirement and into a second fight.
Speaking with Fight Hub TV, Benavidez admitted that he would be intrigued to see how both men adjust.
“I would love to see it because basically, when Canelo had that close fight with [Gennadiy] Golovkin, the second fight he came in more fierce, more conditioned and stayed in the pocket.
“So, he has it in him, I would love to see that. Honestly, that would be the only other fighter that I would want to see Canelo against – Canelo-Crawford II and I think that Canelo does better, but I don’t think that he goes in there and takes Crawford out.
“I think that it would be a close fight, but then also what I would be excited to see is how Crawford does with that [rematch] and if it is going to make him better – which I think it is because he is a great fighter – so it would be another great fight.”
Benavidez went on to suggest that complacency may have crept into Canelo’s initial clash with Crawford and that a rematch would make for a better fight.
“I think that what happened is, from him [Crawford] coming up three weight-classes, Canelo even had that ‘easy money’ shirt on, I think he [Canelo] let that get to his head.
“That is just from my perspective, that is just what it looked like to me. Canelo is a smart guy, he takes information from a fighter really well, so obviously having been through that first fight, I am sure that he would take a lot of the stuff that Crawford was having success with and try to neutralise it.
“It would be a better fight that the first one and the first fight was a really good fight too.”
Canelo is expected to fight twice in 2027, as the 36-year-old veteran seeks to climb the pound-for-pound ratings and reclaim his position as ‘the face of boxing’.
