EDDIE HEARN has named THREE fighters who could beat Canelo Alvarez after Jake Paul claimed his shot at the legend is “closer” than people think.
Undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo beat Jermell Charlo last time out in September via unanimous decision.
The 33-year-old Mexican’s next opponent has not yet been confirmed – although a number of names have been linked.
The WBC have stated that David Benavidez will be named as the official challenger should he defeat Demetrius Andrade on November 25.
Matchroom promoter Hearn is excited by that potential showdown and believes El Bandera Roja could cause problems for Canelo.
However, the Brit also stated that Andrade and David Morrell, the holder of the WBA “regular” title, could also give the icon a run for his money.
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Hearn told FightHype: “The rumblings in the boxing world is 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 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.”
Hearn continued: “From the sounds of things, they wanted Benavidez to fight Morrell. Benavidez looked and went, ‘why?’ They probably didn’t even want to fight 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.
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“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.”
Meanwhile, Paul said his dream fight against the boxing superstar is “closer” than people think.
The 26-year-old YouTuber-turned boxer suffered defeat for the first time in February, losing a split-decision to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia.
He managed to bounce back with victory over MMA veteran Nate Diaz, 38, over ten rounds in August and he returns to the ring on December 15 against little-known professional boxer Andre August, who holds a record of 10-1-1.
The ‘Problem Child’ insisted the bout marks the start of his ambitious road to challenging for a world title and four-division champion Canelo is in his sights.
He told The MMA Hour: “Canelo has shown and said in interviews, he’s expressed interest in it. So, I think we’re closer than we think.
“And it’s bizarre to even be saying that now when like three years or two years ago saying that, I believed it from day one but everyone else was like, ‘Who the f*** is this kid? Shut this kid up.’ But now, it’s like pretty real.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
