David Benavidez has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding the super-middleweight division, offering his candid verdict on whether any active fighter at 168 pounds possesses the skills required to dethrone Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
The discussion comes in the wake of Alvarez’s latest triumph inside the squared circle. This past Saturday, Alvarez added another defining victory to his storied career by securing a hard-fought unanimous decision over Christian Mbilli. With this performance, the boxing icon successfully reclaimed the super-middleweight world title, once again laying down a formidable gauntlet to his rivals in the weight class and firmly re-establishing himself as the man to beat at 168 pounds.
While the historic ambition of capturing a third undisputed super-middleweight world championship undoubtedly lingers in his mind, Alvarez quickly set his sights on a different kind of challenge immediately following his victory over Mbilli. The unified champion publicly called for a high-stakes rematch with Terence Crawford, who remains the only man to defeat him at 168 pounds in what would be a massive blockbuster event for the sport.
That stated interest has not yet been formally reciprocated by Crawford or his team, raising the distinct possibility that Alvarez may be forced to look elsewhere for his next dance partner inside the ring. As boxing enthusiasts and pundits speculate on who might step up to face the multi-division champion next, David Benavidez has offered a rather definitive perspective on the current landscape of the division.
Speaking in an interview with Fight Hub TV, the reigning WBA and WBO cruiserweight world champion confessed that he simply does not believe there is a single active fighter currently competing at super-middleweight who poses a genuine threat to Alvarez. When asked if Alvarez would cleanly sweep through the rest of the 168lb division, Benavidez did not hesitate to endorse the champion’s dominance.
"I think so, that he beats everybody else at super-middleweight," Benavidez told Fight Hub TV during the interview. "Honestly, I don’t think there is any fights big enough for him."
Despite expressing his belief that the current 168lb roster lacks a fighter capable of defeating the Mexican icon, Benavidez did single out one intriguing name that he personally would love to see step across the ring from Alvarez. Rather than focusing on the standard contenders lingering within the traditional super-middleweight rankings, Benavidez pointed toward a rising threat who has recently crossed over into the weight class.
The cruiserweight world champion declared that if he had the ultimate power to make any matchup he desired, the one super-middleweight bout that genuinely interests him involves Janibek Alimkhanuly. Alimkhanuly recently made the decisive move up to the super-middleweight division after establishing a dominant reign as the unified middleweight world champion, bringing serious power, technical skill, and an undefeated record to his new surroundings.
"The only fighter that I would love to see him against, which would be a great fight, would be Janibek," Benavidez remarked during the interview, before immediately tempering expectations regarding the likelihood of the bout ever coming to fruition. "But I don’t think that would ever happen."
Alimkhanuly’s transition to the division is moving swiftly, with high-stakes opportunities already awaiting the talented fighter. The former unified middleweight kingpin is currently scheduled to return to action on Saturday, January 23. On that date, Alimkhanuly will step into the ring to challenge for the vacant WBO super-middleweight world title, taking on Denmark’s Jacob Bank in a crucial matchup that could dramatically reshape the power dynamics at the top of the 168-pound weight class.
