- Eddie Hearn has named the three fighters that could challenge Canelo Alvarez
- David Benavidez, Demetrius Andrade and David Morrell all pose a risk to Canelo
- Hearn on his greatest-ever boxing venue: Listen here to our podcast, The Hook
Eddie Hearn has named David Benavidez, Demetrius Andrade and David Morrell as the three fighters who could give undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez a run for his money.
Canelo last fought on September 30, securing an easy unanimous-decision victory (119-108, 118-109 and 118-109) over Jermell Charlo – who was the undisputed champion at 154lbs.
Canelo’s next opponent has not yet been confirmed, but the WBC have said that David Benavidez will be named as the 33-year-old’s official challenger if he beats Demetrius Andrade on November 25.
Hearn is excited by the Benavidez fight and believes El Bandera Roja will be a tough opponent for Canelo. However, he also named Andrade and Morrell as two boxers that could threaten the Mexican.
The Matchroom promoter said Morrell – who holds the WBA ‘regular’ title – would be a risky fight for Canelo and claims there would very little reward for the Mexican given the fact ‘no one outside of the hardcore boxing fans know who he is’.
Eddie Hearn (above) has named David Benavidez, Demetrius Andrade and David Morrell as the three fighters who could cause Canelo Alvarez problems
Canelo (left) last fought on September 30, securing an easy unanimous-decision victory over Jermell Charlo – who was the undisputed champion at 154lbs
Speaking to FightHype, Hearn said: ‘The rumblings in the boxing world is [David] Morrell is really good. We talk about earlier about Shakur Stevenson. It’s the same kind of thing. Why would you fight David Morrell?’
‘I’m not an adviser or a lawyer or a manager, but if I was, I’d say, if you want me to fight David Morrell, you’d better pay me an absolute fortune. No one knows outside of the hard, hardcore boxing know who David Morrell is.
‘Therefore, the risk-reward doesn’t exist, and as much as we’d love to see that fight, even you got to to be honest and say, why would you fight Morrell? So, it’s down to the PBC to overpay people to fight David Morrell. That’s how boxing works.
‘From the sounds of things, they wanted Benavidez to fight Morrell. Benavidez looked and went, why? They probably didn’t even want to fight [Demetrius] Andrade, to be honest with you. But he’s like, why would I fight Morrell? It’s not even a big fight, and he’s really good.
‘So the answer is, who could beat Canelo? I think Benavidez gives him a good fight. I just feel Demetrius at 168 can’t necessarily stand up to the firepower, but we’ll see coming up. It’s a very good fight.
‘But Morrell might be overrated. You never know until Morrell is in a real fight what he’s got, either. But the rumblings are with people I really respect in boxing, say this kid is special.
