On May 21, the Gila River Arena in Glendale will vibrate with a boxing fight that is key to the future of the Super Middleweight division. David Benavidez faces David Lemieux for the chance to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his WBC 168-pound title, one he retained despite losing to Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
And Alvarez's bet was to increase his legacy: he challenged Dmitry Bivol at 175 pounds to try to snatch his WBA World Light heavyweight title and thus become two-time world champion of that division. However, his status as Undisputed World Super middleweight Champion was not at stake at any time.
Thus, even with a loss, Canelo Alvarez remains the absolute king of 168 pounds. That is exactly what both the Mexican American David Benavidez and the Canadian David Lemieux aspire to: to dethrone the Guadalajara native to keep all the jewels in the crown of this weight class.
David Benavidez would have beaten Dmitry Bivol if he had been in Canelo Alvarez's place
With the confidence of knowing he is undefeated, a two-time super middleweight world champion and with a knockout percentage of 88 percent, David Benavidez said that after sparring with Dmitry Bivol he would have beaten him, unlike Canelo Alvarez, who ended up losing.
"I definitely had a lot of success when I was training with Bivol. We had a lot of sparring sessions. I know for sure I could have done better than Canelo. What he did was keep trying to take him down and hit him with power punches. By the time he realized he had to do something new, he was already exhausted. That's what happens with him.", stated el Bandera Roja in an interview for Fight Hub TV.
David Lemieux points out the insurmountable difference between Canelo and Bivol
The Canadian is a fighter with a lot of experience thanks to his almost 50 fights as a professional. A one-time world champion in the middleweight division, Lemieux believes Canelo Alvarez lost because of a factor that was not entirely within his control: size.
"Dmitry is too big for Canelo. In certain weight categories, there’s weight categories put in perspective for that reason. We very clearly saw that Canelo was really not in his weight category. Dmitry Bivol is a great fighter, but so is Canelo. So I think each fighter has their weight category with respect. If you go too much, too far apart, it'll catch up with you eventually, except if you're Manny Pacquiao" said Lemieux to DAZN.
