David Benavidez isn’t happy hearing that talented pound-for-pound fighter Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford has thrown his hat into the ring, wanting to challenge superstar Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship in 2024.
Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) says that “everybody” is interested in fighting Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) because it’s the “money fight.” If Crawford were to get the fight against Canelo next, Benavidez would be green with envy, feeling resentful of the Nebraska native marching in and taking the fight right out from under his nose.
Benavidez is fighting on borrowed time at 168 because he’s huge for the weight class, and he looked almost dead, making weight for his last fight.
If Canelo wants to get the most attention and money, fighting Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), next would be the ticket because he is riding the wave of adoration from the boxing world after his victory over Errol Spence last July, and he’s the one people want to see fight Alvarez next.
Sorry, Benavidez, but you looked horrible against Caleb Plant. That performance was gawdawful, and it didn’t help that David looked like a full-fledged cruiserweight after rehydrating for that fight against ‘Sweethands’ Plant.
Canelo doesn’t mind fighting light heavyweights, but it’s a bit much when you’ve got a 26-year-old killing himself to make weight for the 168-lb division like Benavidez. He should move up to cruiserweight, where he arguably belongs.
Benavidez doesn’t want Crawford getting Canelo fight
“Everybody wants to fight Canelo. That’s the money fight. I think even [Naoya] Inoue would come up to fight Canelo,” said David Benavidez to Fight Hub TV, reacting to being told that Terence Crawford wants to fight undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez next.
‘The Mexican Monster” Benavidez says he doesn’t want Crawford to fight Canelo because he feels that he should be the one that faces him, provided he wins the title defense of his interim WBC 168-lb belt next Saturday night against Demetrius Andrade on November 25th.
No one Canelo who he can or can’t fight, especially Benavidez, and he’s just going to have to wait his turn. If Canelo wants to fight Crawford next in May 2024, there’s nothing Benavidez can do but sit and wait.
It would help if Benavidez & his dad, Jose Sr., stopped sounding so needy for the Canelo payday, as it makes them seem like a couple of desperados with nothing going for them.
“I don’t want to see Crawford fight Canelo, to be honest with you. I wouldn’t say it wouldn’t be a great fight, but I feel I deserve my opportunity. After this fight [against Demetrius Andrade], what are they going to say?” Benavidez said.
“Deserve’ has nothing to do with it. Benavidez isn’t the one to decide who Canelo should be fighting next. If he wants to fight Crawford for the good of boxing, he should do so. Fans worldwide want to see Canelo fight the pound-for-pound star while he’s still relevant before Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis wipes him out.
“This is a great fight. The top people ranked in the WBC are fighting each other, so it should be an easy call,” said Benavidez about his defense next Saturday against Andrade. “If I can’t get those fights, then I’ll go up and fight Bivol, or I’ll send my conquest at 175. I don’t want no handouts.
“I want to earn my spot everywhere I go, even at 175. I see that weight class, and I want to become a world champion, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” said Benavidez.
It would be a good idea for Benavidez to pipe down about Canelo and focus on the fights he can get, starting with the task against Andrade. If Benavidez gets past that, and that’s a big IF, he can focus on fighting WBA ‘regular’ 168-lb champion David Morrell, who has been calling him out and making him look bad for not accepting it.
