Trainer Jose Benavidez Jr. went after Canelo Alvarez in an interview, scolding the undisputed super middleweight champion for not fighting his son, David Benavidez, and fans talking more & more about a clash with welterweight Terence Crawford.
Fans don’t seem to be more interested in a fight between Canelo and Crawford than they do involving the Mexican star and Benavidez. More anything that seems to be at the root of Jose Sr’s anger. Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is being left out by Canelo.
Jose Sr. looked apoplectic when asked during an interview about his thoughts on Crawford wanting to move up three weight classes to challenge Canelo.
Benavidez Sr views it as an indication that Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) wants the fight with the smaller fighter, Crawford, and is looking to face another guy from a lower weight like he did in his last title defense against 154-pounder Jermell Charlo.
Canelo’s Super Middleweight Supremacy Challenged
“The Canelo era turned into a circus. The true King of 168, ‘The Face of Boxing,’ trying to fight 154s, 147, 160s. That’s ridiculous,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fight Hub TV, reacting to being asked about his thoughts on a hypothetical fight between welterweight champion Terence Crawford and undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Canelo hasn’t even said that he wants to fight Crawford, so it’s unclear why Jose Sr. is getting angry about it. He’s not the one that is driving the interest in a fight with Crawford. It’s the fans and the media. They’re the ones that want to see the fight, not Canelo.
Benavidez has hurt his cause by not taking the fights that he’s needed to keep his popularity growing. Instead of accepting the challenge from David Morrell Jr. or moving up to fight Artur Beterbiev and Jai Opetaia, Benavidez has been padding his record against these fighters:
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb Plant: post-Canelo
– David Lemieux
– Kyrone Davis
It was dumb for Benavidez to fight any of those guys because there was gain. Plant would have been a good choice for Benavidez if he’d fought him before Canelo knocked him out, but not after. That was a useless fight for him to take at that point, and what makes it worse is that Benavidez failed to knock him out.
What Benavidez should be doing is going up in weight to fight Beterbiev and Opetaia, but he’s not going to do that for obvious reasons.
He’s playing it safe, fighting weak, mediocre opposition, waiting for Canelo to bless him, and it’s not going to happen. Canelo doesn’t want to fight a cruiserweight, especially one that can’t sell. Benavidez’s fight with Demetrius Andrade is rumored to have brought in just 70K PPV buys, and those are terrible numbers.
“Little Guys” and Lost Respect
“Imagine if we [David Benavidez] were to do that, trying to fight the little guys,” said Jose Sr. “Imagine us trying to fight Terence Crawford. That’s a little guy. He’s good. My respect to Terence Crawford, but these guys are too big. It’s a circus.”
Canelo hasn’t picked his next opponent for May 4th, but it’s believed that Crawford is one of the three under consideration. The two that are viewed as the leading candidates are Jermall Charlo and Jaime Munguia. Benavidez isn’t under consideration, and it’s doubtful that he’ll be one of the fighters that Canelo picks from for his fight later this year in September.
Again, it comes down to Benavides failing to take the right fights to become a star due to his avoidance of the killers.
“When I hear things like that [Canelo fighting Crawford], that’s not good for boxing,” said Jose Sr. “The pound-for-pound King trying to fight these little guys. That’s not cool, and that’s why we have all his [Canelo] fans. Now, they’re coming to David. Now, they know they’re scared of David.
“After the Boo Boo [Andrade] fight, David gained so many fans. He’s showing and proving to make history. In order to make history and have people give you the respect, you got to fight your own size or maybe a little bit bigger.
Criticism from Champions and Trainers
“That’s why he’s [Canelo] getting criticized a lot by champions and trainers, but he doesn’t care. He just wants to make money. So, to me, it’s just a circus,” said Benavidez Sr.
Canelo isn’t being criticized for the Crawford fight because he hasn’t said he’s fighting him. The only one that’s blasting Canelo is Jose Sr., and it’s obvious why.
He’s starting to realize that his son, David Benavidez, has been wasting his time hounding Canelo for the last three to four years, and he won’t get the payday he’s been chasing.
