Former champion believes Canelo’s legacy will be tainted if he doesn’t fight Benavidez
Andre Ward talked about Álvarez’s upcoming fight against Munguia and believes he’s staying in his comfort zone by avoiding the most dangerous fights.
Saul Álvarez has set his sights on his next opponent, his fellow countryman Jaime Munguia. The showdown will take place during the Cinco de Mayo weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and it will happen after the 27-year-old defeated John Tyder via TKO in the ninth round last January.
While the fight between the two Mexican fighters promises to be good, many believe Canelo should fight David Benavidez, who has repeatedly admitted he would be happy to face the Guadalajara native at super middleweight.
However, the undisputed world champion at 168 won’t fight him and decided to give the younger Munguia the chance to step into the ring with him. Munguia is a dangerous fighter, but he hasn’t shown the level of skills that David Benavidez or Dmitry Bivol have. Moreover, the Tijuana-bred talent hasn’t faced top opposition so far, so he hasn’t much experience in top-level fights.
However, Canelo knows he can decide who will fight, as he’s considered the cash cow of boxing and has been in multiple championship bouts throughout his career.
Ward says Canelo’s legacy will be tainted
Canelo looked good in his last fight against Jermell Charlo, and many believe he should take on the best opponents to keep making history. However, the fact that he has chosen to fight Munguia instead is something that many fans and pundits have criticized.
One of them is the former undefeated world champion Andre Ward. The American believes Canelo should fight Benavidez and that avoiding him will only taint his career.
“Absolutely”, he said to The Breakfast Club when asked if he thought that Canelo’s legacy would be tarnished if he didn’t face Benavidez.
He also said that many of the big names that Canelo has defeated during his career were past their primes, something he also brought into the table.
“His record? It can be viewed in different ways. You can see that there are many well-known fighters there. But then you look at where he fought them and when he fought them. Take Kovalev, for instance. By the time he fought him, Kovalev was no longer ‘The Krusher’. He was not the invincible fighter he once was”, he stated.
“You lose me as a fan when you don’t fight the best but you say everybody else has got to fight the best. Canelo is a really good fighter, but you don’t know how good you are until you fight the other best”, he added.
At 33, and after having held multiple world championships in four weight classes and made a name in the world of boxing, he might not want to risk his career with dangerous fights to try to get easier paydays and retire from the sport with a good record.