Former two division champion Timothy Bradley, who retired from the sport in 2017, is still eager to see Saul “Canelo” Alvarez take on undefeated David Benavidez.
Canelo and his handlers have rejected the idea of facing Benavidez – at least in his next fight.
The Mexican superstar, who holds the undisputed championship at super middleweight, is slated to return in the month of May, during Cinco De Mayo weekend.
Currently, the frontrunner to face Canelo is WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
Benavidez, a former two-time world champion, will return in the coming months, in a WBC final eliminator against David Lemieux.
“I want to see Canelo face David Benavidez. That’s the guy that everybody wants to see him face you know,” Bradley said.
“He’s a big guy in the division, he was a champion until he lost his belt on the scales, and I believe he’s a guy that would pose a threat to Canelo Alvarez. He’s young, he’s brash, he’s 25 years old, and he’s the type of guy that I think would bring the best out of Canelo. If you look at Canelo with the last guys that he faced, yeah, they were world champions, but if you look at how much he was a favorite, 7-1, 8-1 favorite going into a championship fight.
“No, we want to see Canelo matched tough against someone that is going to push him because we want to see how great this kid really is, and I believe David Benavidez is that guy for Canelo Alvarez. Canelo wants to be in the big events. That’s what it’s all about. I believe that David Benavidez brings that. He’s a brash talker; he’s young, he’s 25 years old. Do you remember when Mayweather and Canelo got together? Canelo, I believe, was 23 years old when they faced each other, and Mayweather got the best of him.
“This is that same situation that I believe that Canelo Alvarez can put in front of himself against David Benavidez. Being the young guy, all he’s going to get over time is he’s going to get better. So you might as well get him now in an entertaining fight.”