BOXING
Canelo on Benavidez: “He talks too much, that’s not the way to make a fight”
The Mexican star wasn’t very happy with David Benavidez’s way of advertising himself for a potential fight and he let him know.
Saúl Álvarez’s main focus right now is Jermell Charlo. The Guadalajara native will be looking to defeat the undisputed light middleweight world champion in the first of a three-fight deal with PBC that will report Canelo more than $100 million.
At first, the Mexican was meant to fight Jermell’s twin, Jermall, but the American fighter has been inactive for the last two years and is dealing with some issues, which made the Jermell bout possible.
Canelo will be the favorite when he steps into the ring against Mell, as the Lafayette-bred warrior will need to go up two weight divisions to face Canelo and get a shot for all four super middleweight belts.
Eddy Reynoso’s pupil seems confident enough to get the win when both men meet in September, but there are many boxing analysts and fans who believe that Álvarez’s best days are behind him.
Canelo doesn’t like Benavidez’s attitude
Álvarez’s last fight wasn’t as convincing as many expected, with Canelo earning a hard-fought win over Brit John Ryder at Estadio Akron in front of more than 45,000 fans.
After that, Canelo said his main goal was to get a rematch against Dmitry Bivol, but the undefeated Russian was only interested if the bout was to take place at super middleweight, with all of Canelo’s belts on the line.
However, besides Bivol, David Benavidez is the other name boxing fans want to see fight Álvarez. After his impressive win over Caleb Plant in March, many see The Mexican Monster as the perfect dancing partner for Canelo in a bout that would generate lots of attention.
Canelo, though, preferred to duck Benavidez and will fight Charlo instead. In fact, he doesn’t like the way Benavidez keeps calling his name:
“Maybe [I’ll fight David Benavidez] in the future. He talks too much, that’s not the way to make a fight. I don’t pay attention. I do my thing. Just watch, watch my career, watch his career. I’ve done a lot in boxing”.
While it can be agreed or not that Canelo is right in that statement, it seems quite obvious that the fans are way more interested in a fight against Benavidez rather than the smaller Charlo.