Like the Klitschko brothers, who have come out and said Canelo Alvarez should not fight Russian fighter Dmitry Bivol in May as planned, Don King expressed his outrage over the fight and stated it should not happen. With the Russian “attack on freedom” ongoing in Ukraine, King says there is no way Canelo should fight Bivol.
Speaking with Fight Hype, the 90-year-old spoke about the fact that Canelo’s fight with Bivol is scheduled to take place over Cinco de Mayo weekend, with King pointing out how, on May 5, “Mexico was fighting for his freedom.”
King knows his history, as it was on May 5, 1862, when the Mexican army defeated the French in the battle known as The Battle of Puebla. King says freedom is the most important word in the world and he says Canelo should withdraw from the fight with Bivol.
“It’s the worst thing that Canelo can do to himself, because Canelo comes from Mexico and on May 5, when Canelo plans to fight, Mexico was fighting for his freedom,” King said in speaking with Lance Pugmire.
“How can you celebrate freedom on May 5? How can you fight on May 7 and condemn the attacks on freedom? You can’t do that. It is the worst thing he can do because Canelo can take the $35 million from the fight, but the reality is he is hurting himself.
He fights for Mexico, he fights for Pancho Villa, for Emiliano Zapata, for those who fought for freedom. He cannot say with one hand that he fights for freedom and with the other cash the cheque.”
King has made something of a comeback these last few months; staging the Ilunga Makabu-Thabiso Mchunu cruiserweight title fight in January and just recently winning the purse bid for the Trevor Bryan-Daniel Dubois heavyweight clash.
Now King has made his plea to Canelo. King also praised the Klitschko brothers for their spoken beliefs on why Canelo should not fight Bivol.
But has King by any chance got another motive for not wanting Canelo to fight Bivol next? King was hoping Canelo would fight his guy Makabu, and maybe King is somewhat bitter that that fight is not happening? Maybe.
But is this being too cynical? King will no doubt have plenty of supporters when it comes to his call for Canelo to not fight Bivol. What do you guys think – is there any chance Canelo-Bivol does not happen as scheduled?