David Benavidez says he was willing to fight Canelo Alvarez for a $5 million reduced purse just to get the opportunity to win his four belts at the super middleweight undisputed championship. He believes Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) was never interested in fighting him, and many fans agree with him.
Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is jaded from the experience, and he says he’s now moving up to 175, intending to become undisputed in that weight class.
He says he won’t wait on Canelo anymore, yet he also states that he’ll be returning to the 168-lb division after he goes up to light heavyweight for a fight or two.
The only reason Benavidez would return to super middleweight is to renew pressure on Canelo to try and hound him into agreeing to fight him. Will that approach work? It hasn’t in the past.
Canelo Accused of Ducking the Fight
“The reason why this fight is not happening is because Canelo doesn’t want it to happen, plain and simple,” Benavidez told ESPN.
Benavidez believes Canelo’s decision to leave Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) is a signal that he never wanted to fight him.
The problem may have been that there wasn’t the money there with PBC for Canelo to fight Benavidez, considering there are rumors the company isn’t doing well.
Although Benavidez says he would take $5 million for the Canelo fight, many believe his promoter Sampson Lewkowicz would never agree to that deal.
So whatever Benavidez says, you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt because that’s him speaking, not his promoter.
“Him parting ways with PBC, even though this fight … was on the table … it just speaks volumes. I’m not going to be waiting on Canelo,” said Benavidez.
The fight was never on the table for Canelo. There was no offer for a fight against Benavidez. If Canelo had stayed at 168 with PBC, he would have likely had to agree to a smaller purse for a fight against Jermall Charlo, and if he did fight Benavidez, it wouldn’t be for the money he could get by fighting him in Saudi Arabia.
Benavidez should try to reinvent himself at 175, forget about Canelo, and realize that he’s not going to be able to fight everyone he wants. He seems to have a sense of entitlement and doesn’t understand that he can’t fight everyone he wants.
