Jose Benavidez Sr on Canelo Alvarez: “This guy does not want to pass the torch”

By Boxing News - 06/04/2023 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr says Canelo Alvarez doesn’t want to do the right thing by facing his son David to “pass the torch” to him before heading into retirement.

Jose Sr feels that Canelo is going to have “regrets” for the remainder of his life if he bows out without facing Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs). Of course, that depends on Canelo’s purpose for staying around.

If he’s just continuing his career to fatten his bank account to create more generational wealth to keep his family name wealthy for many generations to come, then one can understand why Canelo would want to avoid fighting Benavidez and continue to cherry-pick easy marks as he’s mostly been doing for the last five years.

Look at the Rockefeller family. They’re still wealthy from the huge money oil tycoon John Rockefeller made over 100 years ago in the early 1900s. Rockefeller would be worth around $400 billion in today’s money. Canelo could be doing the same for his family by being calculated about the fighters he faces.

Benavidez’s problem is he’s not getting any help from the WBC. If they at least would order Canelo to defend against him, it would put him in a position where he would need to fight him or vacate.

They’re not doing that, and you’ve got to ask why. What kind of sanctioning body is this that allows Canelo to sit on their title without defending it against his mandatory?

David is just too strong, too big, too young for Canelo,” said Jose Benavidez Sr to MillCity Boxing. “He has too many miles. This is boxing. You can only go so far, but there are other lions that are coming.

“Hopefully, we don’t become something like Canelo in the future because we’ll fight anybody, any nationality. This guy does not want to pass this torch to this kid,” said Jose Sr about Canelo NOT wanting to fight Benavidez.

“I don’t know what he’s going to do, but that’s not good for his career. If he retires, Benavides is going to be there in his head, and he’s going to regret it and get it over with. Just ending your career and knowing that that one guy that you avoided will always be.

“No matter what, the fans will always mention it. I would say, ‘This is my last fight. I’m going to fight David and see how I do with David.”

“If that King does not show up that night, I think it’s time for him to
retire. So why not? There’s no shame in that.  Now if he beats David, how happy is he going to be? Everybody is going to shut up. That’s the only way you shut people up. We’re willing to take that chance,” said Jose Sr.

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