Canelo Alvarez has responded to the accusations some folks have made, be they fighters, fans or pundits, that he “ducks” certain fighters and has done during the course of his career. Right now, David Benavidez says Canelo is less than keen to face him, and plenty of people have jumped on the bandwagon and agree with Benavidez.
But Canelo basically said, when speaking on “The Breakfast Club,” that he’s heard this tired old broken record many times before. “I’m ducking nobody,” Canelo said firmly.
“Everybody says the same thing my whole life,” Canelo said with regards to accusations that he has ducked or dodged certain fighters. “When I fight with [Austin] Trout, they say I’m ducking Trout, when I fight other fighters they say I’m ducking [Gennady] Golovkin, I’m ducking Erislandy Lara and everything. Every time I beat every single fighter, they say, ‘Okay, I have this other fighter.’ They find somebody else. I’m ducking nobody. I’ve been in this position a lot of times so I just do the fights that I think are best for the fans.”
On the one hand, Canelo has a point – he cannot fight everyone. Yet on the other hand, a fight between Canelo and Benavidez IS a fight fans have called for, and have been calling for for some time. Ask the average fight fan who they would prefer to see Canelo fight, Benavidez or the man the Mexican star is facing next, Jermell Charlo, and the majority of them will tell you Benavidez.
There is a chance Canelo will accommodate Benavidez some time over the coming months, but he said he will “sit down with Al Haymon” and see what the next move will be after he has taken care of the Charlo fight. Canelo, like all stars, has plenty of options, and though Benavidez is all but desperate to get the fight with him, Canelo will call the shots.
What do YOU guys think: is Canelo the right or the wrong guy to hurl any “ducker” jibes at? Canelo has fought a whole lot of excellent, dangerous and skilled fighters during his Hall of Fame career – Shane Mosley, Trout, Floyd Mayweather, Lara, Miguel Cotto, GGG, Danny Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol – has he not?