Esteemed trainer, commentator and fight analyst Teddy Atlas has declared that the super-middleweight torch is ready to be passed on, with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez no longer being the best fighter in the division, despite holding the undisputed title.
Canelo has held the position as the king of the 168lb division ever since he moved up and defeated Callum Smith to become the unified champion.
The Mexican followed that performance up with knockout wins over remaining title-holders Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant in 2021, but some below-par displays since have left fans questioning whether he is still the top dog.
Speaking to ProBox TV, Atlas declared that David Benavidez has overtaken Canelo in his book, regardless of the fact that he doesn’t not hold a world title.
“Obviously, Canelo could easily be the number one pick, but he has got two losses and two draws. The fighter that has the power, the fighter that has the drawing power, pay-per-view power, the guy that lays the golden eggs, when they have got all of that, usually when he has got two draws that means two losses. You could easily say that Canelo is 60-4.
“I just think that if a guy hasn’t lost yet, like Benavidez, there is no telling of how good he still can be, it was the same thing with Canelo up until that point [loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.]. You can lose and you can still get better, yeah I get it, that ain’t happening with Canelo at this point in his life though.”
Atlas went on to explain just why he believes Benavidez is ahead of Canelo.
“Benavidez has a chance to continue growing, to continue getting bigger, better and he is [already] naturally the bigger guy, naturally the stronger guy.”
“I’m going to say that Benavidez is bigger, stronger, he’s still developing. I’m going to say that right now at 27-0, that he belongs ahead of Canelo.”
Canelo may seek to prove his doubters wrong in September, after continuous links to a showdown against Benavidez.