Eddie Hearn believes David Benavidez is an excellent super middleweight fighter but wants the former world champion to earn his shot against Canelo Alvarez.
Alvarez’s last fight saw him lose to Dmitry Bivol in a failed attempt to win the WBA light heavyweight championship. Hearn expects him to consider the order of his next fight: a Bivol rematch and then a Gennadiy Govokin trilogy rematch - or vice versa.
Benavidez fought over the weekend against David Lemieux, winning by third-round stoppage. Hearn was less than impressed with the caliber of the fight he took on.
"You said two very good points. Number one, David Benavidez is a very good fighter. Number two, David Lemieux is completely shot to pieces,” Hearn told the DAZN Boxing Show.
“We’ve seen that in his last couple of fights. He’s been on the floor against journeymen, so the fight told me nothing at all because I know how good David Benavidez is. That was always going to happen against Lemieux, but Benavidez is a very good fighter.”
After Canelo’s next two fights, Hearn considers a Benavidez matchup a potentially huge fight but believes he must do more to force the issue.
He said: “I think the Canelo-Benavidez fight is a very big fight. We know we’re going to go GGG-Bivol or Bivol-GGG, whichever.
“After that, I see Benavidez as a very big fight for Canelo Alvarez. Personally, to make that fight even bigger, I’d like to see him fight one real fighter. Just one, and that would be against Caleb Plant or [Jermall] Charlo. They’re two brilliant fighters and in-house fighters.
“Plant vs. Benavidez is the one. These guys who are chasing Canelo Alvarez, that payday, that shot at excellence, just give themselves a much better chance to get that if they get that big fight. Canelo respects that. He wants to take on a challenge as well and for anyone to think Canelo Alvarez wouldn’t want to fight anyone is the most ridiculous thing going. That would be a really big fight. Let’s make it bigger.
“[Benavidez] is dying for a real fight. He wants one. So give it to him. He’s a star. He’s a big name.”