King Canelo Alvarez addressed the mob, demanding he fight David Benavidez next, letting them know he’s earned the right to fight whoever he pleases at this career stage.
Fans of Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) have steadily been pressing the superstar Canelo (60-2-2, 39 LOs) to defend against ‘The Mexican Monster,’ but he’s chosen not to give in to them.
“I am in a position I have earned – where I can do whatever I want to do. I won’t please them with anything,” said Canelo to LATimesEspanol.
The Resume Speaks for Itself
Canelo hasn’t been avoiding risky fights during his 19-year professional career, having fought the best and moving up four weight classes to capture titles against some of the best. Fans need a reality check for those questioning whether Canelo has taken the risky fights.
Look at some of these names:
Gennadiy Golovkin
Floyd Mayweather Jr
Miguel Cotto
Austin Trout
Shane Mosley
Caleb Plant
Billy Joe Saunders
Dmitry Bivol
Sergey Kovalev
Daniel Jacobs
Callum Smith
Jermell Charlo
People tend to forget all the top fighters that Canelo has done to appease the fans, and it just seems like they’re never satisfied, no matter who he faces. In this one case,
Canelo is doing some pushback, letting the fans know that he will not be pressured into fighting Benavidez, who burned his bridges for a fight against him long ago with his trash talk.
Is Benavidez the True Test?
We don’t know how good Benavidez is because his resume is so thin, and he opted not to take the one test that would allow fans to see if he’s 24K gold or just yellow pyrite, AKA Fool’s gold. He didn’t want to fight David Morrell, which is really telling.
Benavidez hasn’t helped by acting like an entitled spoiled brat, demanding Canelo fight him, and questioning his courage.
He seems to believe he deserves a fight against Canelo based on his wins over David Lemieux and Demetrius Andrade, yet he won’t fight the one real threat to him, David Morrell Jr.
What’s pretty clear is Benavidez is looking for a payday against Canelo, like other fighters, without putting his neck on the line against Morrell, who could spoil things for him.