At the age of 33, four-division champion Canelo Alvarez is stuck at a career crossroads of sorts in his Hall of Fame-bound career. 

The undisputed super middleweight king is currently weighing his options on who to fight next in May. 

Alvarez has reportedly split from PBC with two fights still left on his deal and is heavily favoring fighting the likes of Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga instead of the more desired and tougher tandem headlined by David Benavidez and Terence Crawford. 

Hall of Fame fighter and current promoter, trainer, and respected analyst Roy Jones Jr. shared scenarios in which he sees both Benavidez and Crawford beating Alvarez. 

“It's a tough fight to call because Benavidez throws a lot of punches. Sometimes power can intervene and make that a different situation,” Jones said in an interview with BoxingScene.com. “The problem is -- is Canelo willing to take the risk? I don't really think he will right now because I don't think he feels like he has a reason to … if he can’t hurt Benavidez early in the first three or four rounds, I don’t see him winning that fight.”

The two-time 168-pound titlist Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) has been pounding the table for a crack at Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) over the last two years. 

Universally recognized as the best welterweight in the world, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is open to moving up three weight classes for the chance at clashing with the Mexican star. Alvarez, meanwhile, maintains that a win against Crawford would do little for his legacy, even though many are giving Crawford a real chance to score the win.

“If anybody can do it and pull it off, it’s Crawford. So you can’t tell him no,” said Jones. “I was the kind of guy that if someone said they were better than me and if I can get close to your weight, here I come. I gave John Ruiz 33 pounds [when I won the heavyweight title in 2003]. I didn’t care. I wanted to prove that I was pound-for-pound the best and to do something historic that had never been done. That’s probably how Bud feels right now. He wants to do something historic to solidify his legacy in boxing. Who doesn’t want to see the pound-for-pound best from yesterday fight the pound-for-pound best from today? Who wouldn’t want to see that fight? It’s a mega fight. If he puts the muscle and weight on, how can you doubt him? One thing that’s for sure is that he’s going to go out there and fight and not just collect a paycheck. He’s going to go out there and try to win the fight because that’s who Bud is.

“If he carries the weight, it’ll be a good fight. He can box just like Floyd Mayweather, and he can also fight. He hits and doesn’t get hit. If he can take the punch at that weight, he’ll probably win the fight.”

Jones, who fluctuated in weight during the latter half of his career as a four-division titleholder, said Alvarez should continue his career moving forward at super middleweight.  

“It's definitely best [that Alvarez] stays at 168. I didn't understand why he went to 175 to fight [Dmitry] Bivol anyway,” said Jones. “He had already beaten Sergey Kovalev, who was at the end of his career. Bivol was in the middle of his. They are two different animals. He got the Krusher at the right time. Go back down and dominate where you are at, don't try to fight another one because lightning ain't going to strike twice.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.