Jose Benavidez Jr. unloaded on Canelo Alvarez, criticizing him nonstop for avoiding his son, David Benavidez. It angers Jose Sr. that Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) has been sitting on his four titles, holding them hostage for the last three years without defending them against Benavidez.
The ‘Mexican Monster/ Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is moving up to light heavyweight in the summer to fight for the WBC interim title against Oleksandr Gvozyk and then hopefully against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight.
Benavidez Sr. said the “plan” is to fight the winner to get in on some of the Saudi money, as David can make more money fighting the Beterbiev-Bivol winner than he can against Canelo.
Jose Sr. says they’ll be returning to 168 after they fight Gvozyk, but it might be a mistake for him to do so. Benavidez should stay at 175 and look to fight the Beterbiev-Bivol winner immediately. If Benavidez returns to 168, the chances are he’s not going to get a significant fight against Canelo, Jaime Munguia, or Edgar Berlanga. When you take those three out of the equation, who is left?
Canelo’s Reputation at Stake
“Little by little, he’s losing a lot of fans, and everybody is getting to know the real Canelo. He doesn’t want to fight the ‘Mexican Monster,’ David Benavidez,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Probox TV, bashing Canelo Alvarez for not agreeing to fight his son, David Benavidez.
“The ‘Face of Boxing,’ the King of 168 running away from David, that says a lot about our work. He’s afraid. No matter what. He’s not going to fight David. He said he’s not going to face a Mexican fighter.”
It might bother hardcore boxing fans that Canelo isn’t fighting Benavidez, but it won’t cause him to lose casual fans. Those are the ones that purchase his fights in high numbers on PPV. So, whatever fans that Canelo loses from not fighting Benavidez, it won’t make a dent in his popularity or the money he makes.
“The fact they’re negotiating with Munguia. That’s if he fights Munguia at all this year,” said Paulie Malignaggi. “This is a fight [Canelo vs. Benavidez] that would do wonders for the sport and attract so much attention, but it’s not happening.”
The Light Heavyweight Option
“Hopefully, we can get an opportunity to fight the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol,” said Benavidez Sr. “David has got the height for light heavy. So, for some reason, they strip him [Canelo]. We’ll come back down and fight for the title.”
“You got Saudi money, and Saudi money is bigger than Canelo money,” said Teddy Atlas.
Benavidez should stay at 175 because he’s a light heavyweight in real terms, and that’s likely one of the reasons Canelo isn’t fighting him. He knows that Benavidez is a true light heavyweight and is still young enough to squeeze down to 168.
If Benavidez returns to 168, it’s going to be hard, and his dad, Jose Sr., will get upset for nothing when Canelo still doesn’t want to fight him, and he can’t get the other popular fighters to face David due to his size. They don’t want to fight a light heavyweight, either.
“That’s the plan. Right now, I feel that Canelo has all the belts hostage, and nobody is going to do anything about it. So, we can’t wait here,” said Benavidez Sr. “Berlanga doesn’t want to fight. Munguia doesn’t want to fight. So, who do we fight?
“So, we’re going to get a tough fight at 175 against an Olympian [Oleksandr Gvozyk]. A guy whose only defeat was against Beterbiev. So that’s a dangerous fighter,” said Jose Sr. “I believe in David’s abilities.”
