By Dan Ambrose: Canelo Alvarez feels that he will be called a ducker by boxing fans no matter who he picks for his next fight on May 7th. Canelo thinks he’s being called a ducker no matter who he chooses, which isn’t the case.
Fans have gotten tired of seeing Canelo cherry-pick fighters like Avni Yildirim, Billy Joe Saunders, Sergey Kovalev, and Caleb Plant.
They want to see Canelo face guys in 50-5o fights like David Benavidez, David Morrell Jr, Artur Beterbiev, Demetrius Andrade, Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr.
On Saturday, Canelo posted on social media an amusing post in which he would be called a ducker by fans no matter who he picked for his next fight.
Dan Ambrose disagrees with the ‘Face of Boxing’ Canelo. The ONLY reason the boxing public has been saying that he’s ducking the top guys is that he’s just burned through the last four years of his career facing the lesser opposition.
Rather than fighting the talented fighters that boxing fans have been asking Canelo to fight, he’s fought these played out, washed up bunch:
- Rocky Fielding
- Avni Yildirim
- Sergey Kovalev
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Danny Jacobs
- Caleb Plant
- Callum Smith
Casual boxing fans don’t have the knowledge about the sport to know that the above list of fighters is not the best in their respective divisions. Canelo has been clever to pick weaker fighters to keep from losing and then count on the casuals to tune in to see his mismatches.
Canelo likely to agree to Hearn’s 2-fight deal
“I know they [Team Munguia] were chasing Gennadiy Golovkin, but it sure sounds like Golovkin is going to be part of the Canelo package with DAZN,” said Chris Mannix to The Volume.
From @Canelo IG story. So true!! Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. pic.twitter.com/Ygk4M3t1ZZ
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) February 19, 2022
“So Golovkin is going to be tied up with Ryota Murata in the next couple of months, and if all goes well, Canelo before the end of the year, which may be the last fight of his career.
“If Canelo takes that deal [from Eddie Hearn to face Dmitry Bivol and Golovkin]. He’s got an offer from PBC also,” said Rafael.
“I get the sense he’s going to take it,” said Mannix about Canelo likely to agree to Matchroom and DAZN’s two-fight offer to face Bivol on May 7th and Golovkin on September 17th.
“I’m not disagreeing with you, but the reason why it may change is that the original offer [from PBC to Canelo] from my understanding was the one-fight with [Jermall] Charlo for the May fight,” said Rafael.
“But there was the two-fight on the table for Eddie and DAZN to go in the other direction culminating in the second and third fight with Golovkin.
“But the PBC people, from my understanding, added the second fight to that deal to do the September fight against [David] Benavidez if he wins his second fight against David Lemieux.
“Both packages were in the same ballpark of 90 to 100 million dollars, two-fight offers,” said Rafael.
If Canelo takes the two-fight offer from PBC, he’ll need to face Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), and that would be like asking him to touch the sun.
Canelo doesn’t want to get burned by Benavidez and potentially beaten into the canvas by the young talent. For that reason, Canelo WON’T dare agree to the two-fight deal with PBC, even though it pays him more than the Matchroom deal.
Should Canelo remove Bivol from the equation?
“The question is from Canelo’s people, ‘Do we go Charlo-Benavidez or Bivol-GGG?’ I don’t know why you have to bind yourself to one two-fight offer or another two-fight offer?” said Rafael.
“Canelo has such exorbitant leverage to do what he wants to do; he can pick and do what he wants.
“‘I want Charlo’ and then go back to Eddie [Hearn] and DAZN and say, ‘I don’t need to fight Bivol. Let me go right to the Golovkin fight.‘ That’s the biggest money fight, obviously,” said Rafael.
If Canelo removes WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) from the list, he can forget about becoming the undisputed champion at 175.
Rafael is failing to see is that Canelo wants to become the undisputed champion at light heavyweight, and for him to do that, he’s going to need to face the less than popular Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, and Joe Smith Jr.
Those fighters are talented, but they’re not as marketable fights for Canelo as a trilogy with Golovkin or matches against Benavidez or Jermall Charlo.
But if Canelo doesn’t fight Bivol, Beterbiev, or Smith Jr, he can forget about becoming the undisputed champion at 175.
“As a fan, these are the possibilities. Would you rather see Canelo vs. Charlo and then Golovkin III, Canelo vs. Charlo & Benavidez or Canelo vs. Bivol, GGG 3? Out of those possibilities, I’d much rather see Canelo vs. Charlo, GGG 3,” said Rafael.
“I love the Benavidez fight as well, but that’s going to be there. Honestly, the Bivol fight [against Canelo] does nothing for me. I just don’t see it as an attractive match-up. It may be a tough fight, but I don’t think it’s exciting.
“Bivol, we talk about how undistinguished guys have looked in recent fights, Danny Jacobs, Bivol might be one guy that can challenge Danny Jacobs for not looking so great in his last two fights.
“So, Canelo and his people can sit down and decide which is the best possible scenario and make their selection [for the best two-fight deal between Matchroom or PBC],” said Rafael.
“I don’t think it’s a guarantee, but it’s certainly possible that he’s [Canelo] going to go that Bivol and GGG route.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Anything can happen in the next couple of days,” said Mannix. “I don’t want to go down the Canelo road just yet. I’m going to wait until he signs on, and we can kind of dissect his decision,” said Mannix.
“We’re kind of all over the place,” said Rafael.
Yeah, Canelo can mix and match if he wishes to get the best two-fight deal, but if he removes guys like Bivol from the equation, then he’s giving up on his goal of becoming the undisputed champion at 175. I don’t think he’s going to do that.
Canelo will try at least and become the undisputed champion at 175, and for him to do that, he’s going to need to face guys that aren’t as popular as Golovkin, Charlo, or Benavidez.
