By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez says he wants to see the top fighters David Benavidez and Jermall Charlo fight each other so he can face the winner of the fight.
Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) says the fighters are just waiting to face him so they can get a big payday to hit the lottery, but he’d like to see them face other people too.
Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) has tried to get fights against Jermall, Caleb Plant, and even Canelo himself without any luck. Those fighters haven’t shown interest in fighting him, and it’s easy to see why.
If it were easy for Benavidez to get fights, he would likely be the #1 fighter in the U.S, and Canelo would be one of his many knockout victims.
Unfortunately, the two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez hasn’t had any luck getting a fight with Canelo.
“We only want to make history, and we proved that,” said Canelo Alvarez to ESNEWS. “I’m thinking about it, and I’m okay with that,” said Canelo when told that when fighters face him, they win the lotto with a big payday.
“But they need to fight each other too because they’re just waiting for me because they want a good payday, so I know that. They need to fight each other. I can fight the winner of all of them.”
If Canelo wants Benavidez and Charlo to pick each other off, that’s going to leave fewer big fight options for him. Of course, Canelo has already proven to be satisfied with facing lesser opposition in the last four years.
Canelo’s opposition since 2018:
- Avni Yildirim
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Caleb Plant
- Sergey Kovalev
- Daniel Jacobs
- Rocky Fielding
- Callum Smith
These are the fighters that Canelo is making history fighting, but none of them are considered elite, so it’s hard to see how he’s making history in the real sense.
“Yeah, many fighters,” said Canelo when asked if he wants to see David Benavidez fight Jermall Charlo, and he’ll fight the winner. “Every fighter wants to fight me, and they come with many options too. Why don’t they fight each other?
“They need it because this year I’m busy,” said Canelo in letting Benavidez and Charlo know he won’t be available this year. “I care about everything, but my mind just wants to make history.”
If Canelo wants to make history, he’s going about it the wrong way. He should be fighting the quality guys, not the weakest links among the champions.
In Canelo’snext fight, he’ll be facing WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th. While Bivol is a HUGE upgrade over the champions Canelo has faced at 168 since 2018, some view him as the weakest link among the champions at 175.
The #1 champion is IBF/WBC champ Artur Beterbiev, and #2 is the WBO champion Joe Smith Jr.
“Whatever option for me, the money is there. It’s a lot of [money], but I just want to make history,” said Canelo. “So this time, Bivol offered me a world champion belt. 175, a good champion.
“He’s a very good fighter, and I just want to make history. The money is there, no matter what. I don’t care about money. I care about my legacy,” said Canelo.
Bivol looked terrible in his last two fights against Craig Richards and Umar Salamov. There’s an argument that can be made that Bivol isn’t the same fighter since his win over Joe Smith Jr. in 2019.
Bivol was badly hurt after the bell in the tenth round in the Smith fight. Bivol hasn’t looked good since that fight, and you got to wonder if being shaken up by Smith has made him nervous about getting hit.
Whatever chance Bivol had of beating Canelo may have gone down the drain after his punishing fight with Smith.
