Canelo Alvarez is adamant that he’ll fight whoever he wants for the remainder of his career, without bending to pressure from fans to fight David Benavidez.
The Mexican star Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) says he’s fought all the top fighters that fans had said he wouldn’t fight during his career, and now at 33, he feels he’s earned the right to choose his opponents after 19 years in the sport.
Fans have lately started pushing Canelo to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against WBC mandatory Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), but he’s shown no interest.
Benavidez: Architect of His Own Misfortune
One big reason for Canelo’s decision not to fight Benavidez is the way he’s talked bad about him, trying to force him to give him a shot – and a payday – but Alvarez has instead refused.
Benavidez’s disrespectful behavior towards Canelo has made him reluctant to give the fighter the payday and career boost he’s seeking from a fight against him.
The 27-year-old Benavidez’s method for acquiring the Canelo fight by bad-mouthing him during interviews has backfired, resulting in the superstar not wanting anything to do with the rude contender.
In normal life, people change their behavior when they see they’re not getting the results they want with social interactions, but not Benavidez. He’s continued down the path of insulting Alvarez in interviews, believing that if he angers him enough, he’ll finally fight him. Wrong.
Benavidez has totally misjudged Canelo, not realizing the kind of person he is, and the hard life he had growing up in Mexico.
A History of Facing Challenges
“The truth is I’ve always fought those who people say I don’t want to fight. I am in a position I have earned – where I can do whatever I want to do,” said Canelo to the LA Times.
“I won’t please them with anything. When they wanted me to fight Gennady Golovkin, I fought Golovkin. Callum Smith, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather, Austin Trout, everyone. So if you look at that, they are never pleased with anything. I will do what I want to do.”
Canelo is defending his four super middleweight belts against #1 WBO Jaime Munguia next on May 4th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The choice of opponent has angered Benavidez even more, as he feels he’s done far more than Munguia, who has fought just twice since moving up to the 168-lb division.