Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe says a fight between Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez is a “much bigger” match than one involving the Mexican superstar against Terence Crawford.
Ellerbe believes there will be more buzz from a clash between the unbeaten WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) and undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs). He could be right.
Boxing fans have been pushing for Canelo to face Benavidez for years, and many of them feel that ‘The Mexican Monster’ is poised to unseat the King of the super middleweight division to take over his throne.
The 36-year-old unified welterweight champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) has only recently become popular from his fight against Errol Spence Jr. last July, and there are some who believe the success of that contest on Showtime PPV was due to ‘The Truth.’
Breaking Down Ellerbe’s Argument
“If you ask me which fight is bigger. The Benavidez [vs. Canelo] fight is bigger [than the Canelo vs. Terence Crawford match]. It’s a much bigger fight,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe to Fighthype.
What hurts Crawford’s popularity is that he’s been inactive since his win over Spence instead of taking advantage of his big win by getting back in the ring. Obviously, Crawford has been waiting on Spence, but it still hasn’t helped him to be inactive.
Benavidez is arguably a more popular fighter than Crawford with fans, and that’s a product of his fighting style, which is more fan-friendly. Crawford is a counter-puncher who switches hits and goes around the ring when fighting opposition with power.
The Bigger Picture
If the fight were to be made, the combination of Benavidez’s size, high work rate, power, and youth would be a big problem for Canelo. The 36-year-old Crawford is believed to be on the cusp of retirement and is just hanging around to see if he can get a fight against Canelo. If that match doesn’t happen, Crawford will likely retire soon.
The reports of Canelo potentially leaving PBC due to financial recent paint a bleak picture of a fight between him and Benavidez. If Canelo moves on, it would probably be the final nail for the dream fight between him and Benavidez.
