Canelo Alvarez Says David Benavidez Doesn’t Deserve a Fight
During in his last tour of duty, undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KO’s) defeated his bitter rival Gennady Golovkin. The somewhat lackluster affair completed their trilogy which has spanned five years. Yet, with boxing being the sport that it is, directly after the trilogy win, the fans want to know who is next. One fighter at the top of the fans list is two-time WBC super middleweight champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (26-0, 23 KO’s).
Before the redhead entered the 168-pound division, Benavidez was largely thought of as the man to beat at super middleweight. Since the moment that Canelo began his campaign there, this prizefight has been loudly called for. Sadly, to date, Alvarez has shown little interest in Benavidez. Even worse, he has resumed his seemingly baseless claim that he doesn’t want to fight Mexicans because he represents Mexico. This sentiment appears to be shared by remarkably few Mexicans. And now, Canelo makes this statement even hollower.
DON’T WORRY ABOUT THEN, LISTEN TO ME NOW!
Following his third match with GGG, Canelo was predictably asked if he’d face The Mexican Monster now. It was at this point that the cornered redhead began contradicting himself.
“Anything can happen. Guys, always when I say this, you show the video and put whatever you want. When I said I don’t want to fight Mexicans, it’s because I represent Mexico, that’s why. But I don’t care. I will fight anybody and I fought my entire life against anybody…I hear his dad [Jose Benavidez Sr.] talking a lot of shit. Look at what he has accomplished – nothing! One single champion, Anthony Dirrell, please! I respect myself…don’t lack respect when you talk about me. I’ve faced the best out there. I haven’t ducked any one.”
CHECK THE RECORD
On the surface this sounds good, kind of. But, do these words hold up under scrutiny? Obviously, there is no denying that Canelo is a marvelous fighter and certainly one of today’s best. So it is somewhat disappointing that now that the pressure is on he is attempting to pass the buck on what he himself has said. In the match directly before Golovkin, Canelo dropped a loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
Bivol will next go to war with Mexican boxer Gilberto Ramirez. When asked about facing the winner, in plain English, Alvarez said he had no interest in facing Ramirez due to his being Mexican. This was not a case of the media twisting his words. Going a step further, on the subject of ducking, two-division champion Demetrius Andrade certainly has a different perception. This is because Andrade has been ferociously chasing a fight with the redhead for years in a pursuit that now spans three divisions.
WHO IS THE BEST MEXICAN?!
Canelo to this day says that Andrade has done nothing. At the same time, Andrade is a former Olympian with a tough fighting style. He is undefeated and is a two-division champion. This is far from unaccomplished. Not to mention Andrade has called him a ‘bitch’ and even popped up to press conferences. Regrettably, none of these efforts have resulted in a match.
So, in Benavidez, we have another fighter who Canelo is offering horrifically weak excuses as to why he won’t fight them. Likewise, Benavidez is a two-time WBC champion, undefeated, highly ranked and deemed by the fans to be Canelo’s toughest fight at 168. Instead of fighting him though, Alvarez is essentially lying about Benavidez’s accomplishments and getting tripped up by his own limp-wrist excuses. Let’s hope that all this changes in the very near future as Alvarez versus Benavidez is a great showdown.
By: Bakari Simpson
