Ask any boxing fan over the past couple of years what fight they wish would happen, and Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez would likely be at the top of most lists. It hasn’t come to fruition, and in reality, it has never been close to happening. Almost everyone blames Canelo, despite him having full authority to do whatever he wants.
Alvarez’s resume speaks for itself, yet many fans haven’t been pleased by how he’s treated the latter stage of his career. In the midst of avoiding Benavidez, Canelo has taken fights that people haven’t deemed exciting, particularly since losing to Dmitry Bivol at a higher weight. Much has been said between Alvarez and Benavidez through the media, but Canelo appears to be fully moving on for now.
Canelo has a bout lined up with Terence Crawford in September and odds are he will face a lesser opponent in May. Benavidez, meanwhile, is gearing up to fight unbeaten David Morrell this weekend. Despite Morrell being a tough matchup, Benavidez seemingly can’t get Alvarez out of his head.
David Benavidez continues to believe Canelo Alvarez is scared to face him
Benavidez did an interview with Andre Ward this week and explained how he felt disrespected by Canelo over the years.
“I always knew I was a problem for him because I was never at the forefront when he mentions fights. It was never David Benavidez first. It was Caleb Plant, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders. He never really mentioned me. I don’t know if that’s a pride thing [due to being Mexican], or if he just really thinks I’m that much of a threat.”
David Benavidez accepted a $5 million offer to fight Canelo but then got ghosted
Benavidez reveals Alvarez was offered $70 million to make the fight happen, before pay-per-view revenue. He then says he was offered a $5 million flat rate fee without PPV money before the Jaime Munguia fight, to which he said “yes”. But he and his team never heard back from Alvarez’s camp.
“They were calling the bait out. They wanted to see if I was gonna say yes or no. I think they thought I was gonna say, ‘no, I’m not gonna fight for $5 million’… I called the bluff and that was the last time we ever heard about that fight. But this fight is inevitable. Everybody’s asking for it, it’s the biggest fight that could possibly be made.”
Benavidez then draws a parallel to Morrell, who he says has been talking a lot of trash saying Benavidez can’t beat him. Benavidez is confronting him face-to-face, something he doesn’t see Alvarez doing.
“If I’m sitting here telling Canelo I can knock him out and I can beat him. Why doesn’t he just come shut me up and make a lot of money?”