Canelo Fight Bigger Than Ever For 2026

By veteran fight analyst Chris Williams – Colossus Boxing: David Benavidez believes the mega-fight between him and the recently beaten Canelo Alvarez is “bigger” than ever for 2026.

‘The Mexican Monster’ says the long-awaited clash against Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) can happen next year, and will create more fan interest than Alvarez’s first two clashes against Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin from 2017 and 2018.

Benavidez’s 2026 Vision

A fight between Canelo and Benavidez would still be massive in 2026. It wouldn’t matter that Canelo is coming off a loss to Terence Crawford. That fight was boring and involved mostly running from Crawford. U.S fans would be excited to see the entertaining Benavidez and Canelo stand toe-to-toe, firing power shots.

“Look, the fight with Canelo is more alive than ever. I think in 2026, it could be even bigger than anything we’ve seen—like bigger than Canelo vs. GGG. Fans have been waiting for this Mexican showdown, and with everything changing in boxing right now, it’s gonna happen,” said David Benavidez to Salvador Rodriguez to ESPN Knockout about his belief that a fight between him and Canelo Alvarez can still happen in 2026.

“I’m focused right now on building my legacy. Yeah, everyone wants to see me and Canelo. It’s the fight that could break records,” said Benavidez.

There’s an excellent chance that a fight between Alvarez and Benavidez would bring in far bigger numbers than the first two Canelo-GGG matches on HBO PPV, especially if they were shown on Netflix.

What Fans Really Wanted

Canelo, 35, lost to Terence Crawford by a close 12-round unanimous decision two months ago on September 13, 2025, on Netflix in Las Vegas. It was an unusual matchup that had little fan demand, but Turki Alalshikh wanted to make it happen.

Record-Breaking Potential

Canelo-Crawford garnered 41 million viewers globally on Netflix, but those numbers would likely have been surpassed if Turki had chosen the more deserving Benavidez to fight Alvarez. Benavidez had fought for years at 168 and had never been given a shot against Canelo.

Crawford didn’t rate a title shot, and he was allowed to leap ahead of the top super middleweights, Christian Mbilli, Osleys Iglesias, and Lester Martinez. It was unfair and turned the fight into a circus-level one. With the $150 million that Canelo was reportedly paid for the Crawford fight, that was roughly his same asking price to face Benavidez.

Turki’s Missed Investment

Turki Alalshikh would have spent his money more wisely if he’d invested in making the Canelo-Benavidez fight rather than paying Alvarez a King’s ransom to defend against the 38-year-old Crawford. Why build an older fighter that is about to retire when he could have spent the money to get the 28-year-old Benavidez as the one who dethroned the faded Canelo? It didn’t make sense.

Chris Williams is a veteran fight analyst for Colossus Boxing, loved by purists, and has been dissecting boxing’s power games and false prophets for over a decade.