Benavidez questions Alvarez again, but move toward cruiserweight and available bouts shift the focus away from a long-discussed matchup
David Benavidez continues to call out Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, repeating long-running criticism despite moving toward new fights at higher weights. With options now open across multiple divisions, the focus is shifting to whether Benavidez should pursue the fights in front of him instead.
Calling Canelo “scared” and saying he has “no balls” may grab headlines, yet it also risks making Benavidez look stuck in the past. The Canelo fight was the money fight at 168 when both men were on that road. That window has largely passed.
When Benavidez makes every interview about the fight he didn’t get, it makes him look like he needs Canelo to be legitimate. Fans have heard the “scared” narrative for three years. It’s stale already.
“He’s scared, he has no balls. That’s what it is. I give Canelo all the respect. He’s done everything he’s done, but, at the end of the day, I was the #1 contender in two weight classes for a long, long time,” said Benavidez to Come and Talk 2 Me YouTube channel.
“He has shown that he doesn’t want to fight me. It’s really a shame because this is a fight everybody wants to see. This is a fight that the fans deserve.
“I believe in myself and my skills 100%, so I feel like, if he says he’s the baddest man on the planet, why not give the fans what they want to see?”
Benavidez has since grown into a fighter whose options should be wider than one rivalry. He can chase cruiserweight titles, pursue Jai Opetaia, revisit light heavyweight names like Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol, or seek major fights against Christian Mbilli and other rising names. There are serious bouts available without waiting for Canelo.
The problem is that he’s letting a rejection define his legacy instead of letting his own resume do the talking.
Benavidez is moving up to 200 pounds to fight Gilberto Ramirez on May 2nd for the unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles. It is hard to sell the public on being the rightful challenger for a 168-pounder like Canelo when you are effectively two weight classes north.
By continuing to mention the $150 million offers or questioning Canelo’s courage, Benavidez is chasing a fight that’s not there while talented fighters like Jai Opetaia or a Beterbiev-Bivol winner are around his weight class.
While Canelo remains the biggest payday, he is no longer the undisputed king of the mountain after his loss to Terence Crawford. For Benavidez to keep acting like Canelo is the only fight that matters suggests he’s more interested in the money fight than in being the baddest man on the planet.
Benavidez has the talent to be a Hall of Fame lock on his own merit. But if he keeps this up, he’ll be remembered as the guy who spent his prime years complaining about a phone call that never came.