Canelo Alvarez has been a target of David Benavidez for several years, and Mikey Garcia revealed how he thinks the fight would go if it finally happened.

Benavidez won the WBC interim super middleweight title in May 2022, with fans demanding that Canelo give him an undisputed title shot as a result, to no avail.

After waiting patiently for two years, a frustrated Benavidez made the decision to move up to the airy heavyweight division. He became the world title holder at that weight the following year when he was elevated to the WBC world title.

Earlier this month, Benavidez rose again and sensationally dethroned Gilberto Ramirez to win the unified cruiserweight world titles and move up the rankings pound-for-pound. Although he has now clearly carved out his own path, the 29-year-old reiterated his interest in a long-awaited confrontation with Canelo, urging him to move up to 175 pounds – something he has already done twice in his career – for a shot at the WBC belt.

I’m talking to ESNEWSfour-division world champion Mikey Garcia described this proposed contest as “pointless”, believing that the only people who want to see the fight are those who want to witness Canelo “beat”.

“When they both weighed 168 pounds, [I would have liked to have seen that fight]. This makes no sense now. It’s almost like you just want to see Canelo get beat up because that’s what’s going to happen because Benavidez is so gigantic and robust and speedy now.

“I would like it to be a good fight at 168 pounds, but no more. Canelo was still at the top back then [as one of boxing’s best fighters]”

Canelo will return to the ring on Saturday, September 12attempting to reclaim the super middleweight throne by defeating newly crowned WBC champion Christian Mbilli. He said he will likely remain in the division until retirement, although he will move up to airy heavyweight for a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, another fighter Benavidez is targeting.

Andy Cruz has another path to returning to the IBF lightweight title fight, but the price Matchroom Boxing paid to secure the fight spoke volumes about how little demand there was at the bidding table.

Matchroom won Tuesday’s bid for the IBF lightweight eliminator between Cruz (6-1, 3 KO) and Albert Bell with a modest winning bid of $298,000. Bell, who entered the fight ranked third in the IBF rankings, will receive a larger split of 60 percent, while fourth-ranked Cruz will receive 40 percent.

Click here to sign up for our FREE newsletter

Related boxing news:

Last updated: 27/05/2026 at 19:18

It looks like Floyd Schofield’s long-awaited shot at the WBA lightweight world title may come against Gervonta Davis, and now fan-favorite three-division champion James Toney has shared his thoughts on the proposed fight.

Davis has been inactive for 15 months as external issues kept him out of the ring, but his return appears imminent and the WBA has now ordered a showdown with number one contender Schofield for the lightweight title.

As a result, “Tank”, now billed as the WBA’s “vacation champion”, has a chance to regain full lightweight world champion status if he agrees to fight “Kid Austin” upon his return. If he doesn’t do this, he will lose his champion status.

I’m talking to MillCity Boxing‘Lights Out’ Toney dismissed the possibility that Schofield would cause any problems for Davis, believing that their potential meeting would end similarly to Davis’ knockout over Frank Martin in June 2024 – which remains the last knockout win for the Baltimore artist.

“This kid isn’t ready. He’s going to get knocked out.”

“[I see] Thread [in Floyd Schofield]. He’s a good fighter for smaller fighters, but when he reaches Tank’s level it will be something else. He’ll be like Frank Martin.”

Tank is expected to return in September, with Schofield, 23, hoping to overcome his own inaction – fighting just one round from 2024 – to hand Davis the first defeat of his professional career and become the third-youngest men’s world boxing champion.