Hearn reacts to Mayweather saying Canelo is ducking David Benavidez

By Rob Smith - 12/04/2021 - Comments

This week, Eddie Hearn addressed Floyd Mayweather Jr’s comments about Canelo Alvarez ducking David Benavidez. Canelo still isn’t viewed as the #1 super middleweight because he hasn’t beaten Benavidez, and that’s why Mayweather was pointing out.

Yeah, Canelo beat a bunch of flawed paper champions recently to become the undisputed champion at 168, but he didn’t beat the #1 guy Benavidez. Canelo swerved Benavidez and chose to fight four paper champions.

Like many people, Mayweather has noticed how Canelo has been picking his opponents for the last three years by seemingly swerving dangerous opposition and choosing flawed champions that present zero risk.

Mayweather said that he feels that Canelo has been ducking the former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), and he wants to see him step it up already.

According to Hearn, Canelo is not obligated to fight who the fans want him to fight, meaning Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, or whoever.  Hearn says that Benavidez has nothing to offer Canelo other than a payday, and the same goes for Charlo.

Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) has taken a lot of stick from boxing fans for spending the last three years slowly unifying the 168 lb division against three British fighters, Rocky Fielding, Callum Smith, and Billy Joe Saunders, and American Caleb Plant.

Fans didn’t ask Canelo to fight any of those fighters. They’ve been clamoring for the last three years for Canelo to fight David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, Gennadiy Golovkin, Artur Beterbiev, Demetrius Andrade, and Dmitry Bivol.

Now that Canelo has finished unifying the super middleweight division with his victory over Plant last November, fans were hoping that he would get to business by fighting some talented fighters like Benavidez.

Rather than giving the fans what they want, Canelo dropped a bomb recently by saying that he’s going to move up to cruiserweight and fight WBC champion Ilunga Makabu.

The hardcore boxing fans know of Makabu and see him as the weakest of the champions at cruiserweight, and they remember him getting knocked out by Tony Bellew in 2016.

Hearn: Benavidez has NOTHING that Canelo wants

Eddie says Benavidez has nothing that Canelo wants in terms of titles, which he’s focused on right now. For Canelo to want to fight guys nowadays, they have to hold titles.

The one exception that Canelo made was throwing a bone to his old sparring partner Avni Yildirim earlier this year in defending his WBC 168-lb title against him. That was a terrible mismatch and hardly worth being shown on DAZN.

In Canelo’s last two fights against Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant, we see a fighter that is getting old and no longer dominating like he used to.

Canelo struggled in both fights and was fortunate that they lacked power and stamina. Plant and Saunders highlighted the reality that Canelo is aging, and he cannot dominate as he used to.

The way Canelo looked in those fights, he would lose to Benavidez, David Morrell Jr, Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo, Artur Beterbiev, and Dmitry Bivol. Hence, he’s chosen not to fight them.

That’s the likely valid reason why Canelo has chosen not to fight any of those guys because he appears to realize that he’s too vulnerable to fight the best, so he picks out the weak prey in the same way that a shark or coyote would.

“David Benavidez is a great fighter, but he hasn’t got anything that Canelo Alvarez wants,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV. “If you look at what Canelo has done in the last year and a half, he’s consistently fought champions.

Hearn reacts to Mayweather saying Canelo is ducking David Benavidez

“Okay, he [Canelo] had a mandatory [Avni Yildirim] that he had to take, but he boxed Daniel Jacobs, the world middleweight champion, he boxed Sergey Kovalev, the light heavyweight world champion, and then he said to himself, ‘I want to be undisputed.’

“He [Canelo] boxed Callum Smith, the #1 in the [168-lb] division, the Ring Magazine champ, then he boxed Billy Joe Saunders, the WBO world champion, then he boxed Caleb Plant. He did it in a year.

“It baffles me, and I know I’m a Canelo Alvarez fanboy because I think he’s great, and I know him personally. To achieve what he’s achieved and to have the money that he has, and to have the ambition and drive that he has makes him an incredibly special athlete.

“I feel passionate about what he is as a person and as a fighter. Having known him and worked with him, he would NEVER duck any fighter EVER,” Hearn said if Canelo.

“So, it has to be a fighter that motivates him, or there’s a reason behind it,” said Hearn of Canelo.

“With Makabu, you can’t say, ‘He’s looking for an easy fight against Makabu.’ The guy is 200 lbs, and he’s going to weigh 225 lbs in the ring. He’s going to outweigh Canelo by 35 or 40 pounds, and he punches like an absolute mule. That’s not ducking Benavidez or [Jermall] Charlo,” said Hearn.

Fans wouldn’t mind seeing Canelo go up to cruiserweight to fight a world champion if he picked out one of the good champions like Mairis Briedis or Lawrence Okolie.

They’d be overjoyed if Canelo chose to fight one of those two champs, but they’ve seen enough of Makabu to know that he’s an easy mark. They recognize this as another example of Canelo being a shark-like opportunist.

Canelo not motivated to fight Benavidez & Charlo

“What does Charlo or Benavidez got for him other than a payday? That’s it, and that’s fine for Canelo to accept if he wants. ‘Payday, payday.’ But he’s about something different than that; he likes challenges.

“So right now, Canelo is probably thinking to himself, ‘What excites me, what makes me get back in the ring?’ Going and doing something crazy like fighting a cruiserweight or what I like, becoming undisputed at 175, Dmitry Bivol, Joe Smith, Beterbiev, what a run that would be or Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy fight.

“The Benavidez fight is a great fight, and the Charlo fight is a great fight. I’m not here to speak for Canelo Alvarez or Eddy Reynoso; they’re the bosses. It’s whatever they want to do, but I don’t see what those options actually do for him.

“You’ve got to get motivated, especially when you’re in his lifestyle. To be self-motivated like he is with that lifestyle is a special athlete. But I think if you said to Canelo Alvarez and Eddy Reynoso, ‘Fight David Benavidez,’ I think the answer would be, ‘Yeah, we would, but why?'” said Hearn.

If a fighter and his manager don’t want to fight risky opposition, they can find a lot of reasons why they shouldn’t have to take those fights. In Canelo’s case, he’s got the flimsy excuse that he wants to make history by going up to cruiserweight to win a fifth division world title.

Hearn says Callum Smith was #1 at 168, not Benavidez

“It depends on what rankings you’re looking at,” said Hearn when told during the interview that the reason boxing fans want Canelo to fight Benavidez is because he’s viewed as the #1 super middleweight.

“When he [Canelo] beat Callum Smith, who is the #1 super middleweight ranked Ring Magazine champion, WBC, WBA, won the World Boxing Super Series, he was regarded as the best super middleweight in the world. He beat him easy, and then all of a sudden, ‘He’s not very good that Callum Smith.’

“But who has Benavidez beat at super middleweight? By the way, Benavidez is a really good fighter, but who has he beaten? Who has he fought? Nobody. Sometimes you get to a situation where maybe Eddy [Reynoso] says that same thing. ‘What has he done?’

“Honestly, I can tell you knowing those guys [Canelo and Reynoso], they would never duck one person. They never do things tactically. It’s just about feel.

“So when I started working with them, they said, ‘We want to be undisputed. It’s never been done at 168; there’s never been a Latino undisputed champion. Let’s do that.’ They’ve done it. Give him a chance. He [Canelo] may fight Benavidez next or Charlo with the PBC, who knows?” Hearn said.

Many U.S boxing fans NEVER saw Callum Smith as the #1 super middleweight in the division before Canelo fought him. Yeah, some fans did, but most of them had seen Callum’s fight with John Ryder and compared him to Benavidez realized that he was nowhere near the #1 fighter at 168.

The way Callum fought against Ryder, who arguably beat him, he looked more like a number four or five super middleweight. Callum would likely lose to all of these super middleweights: Benavidez, David Morrell Jr, Edgar Berlanga, Aidos Yerbossynuly, and Caleb Plant.

People think Canelo is obligated

“That’ll be some of the offers that are made to him, and one of those plans is to box globally as well,” Hearn said of Canelo’s plans. “That’s really important to him. I guess he’s going to do what he’s going to do.

“The other thing that makes me laugh is people kind of feel that he has an obligation to fight [elite guys like Benavidez]. Mate, he can do whatever he wants. He has earned the right and the opportunity.

“Now the great news for fight fans is, it don’t work like that. So, he’ll do what he wants, but he’ll search for greatness. I’m a little bit conflicted because I’m a massive Eddy Reynoso and Canelo fanboy, and I’ve seen from the inside what these guys are all about.

“I couldn’t put him in a fight that I didn’t believe he was going to win because he’s that good,” said Hearn.

It shouldn’t be seen as wrong if boxing fans feel that Canelo is obligated to fight the best. It’s hard to understand Hearn’s way of thinking when he says that fans think Canelo is compelled to fight the best.

Why wouldn’t Hearn want Canelo to fight the best? If this were any other sport, would fans want teams to play only against inferior opposition? No, they would expect them to compete against the best, so boxing fans feel that Canelo is obligated to fight Benavidez.

45 thoughts on “Hearn reacts to Mayweather saying Canelo is ducking David Benavidez”

  1. Canelo can fight whoever he wants, he doesn’t have to fight hard fight or good fighters.

  2. Is there any truth to the rumor that Eddie Hearn said Canelo was a Winnie? What is a Winnie exactly?

    • You are making a big deal for nothing. Steroids are legal in the UK and Mexico Cuba and the American people deserve steroids too.

  3. Canelo uses steroids so what Why don’t you criticize fury or Dillian Whyte they use steroids

  4. Canelo is a drug cheat. Of course he is going to duck good fighters. He doesn’t want to get hit all over the place.

  5. Most of f.mayweathers fights he really lost..I know some guys that would have knock Mayweather out of the ring..Mayweather hits like a girl…

  6. Eddie Hearn is a carnival barking promoter. Crowing from the rooftops bragging about his fighters.

  7. Avoid, duck 🦆🦆 and run cockroach run. Canelo, Whyte, Anthony Joshua and fury are cockroaches that run. And they damned well better keep running too.

  8. Luis Ortiz fought 39 fights and he only lost to the legendary great champion Deontay Wilder twice.
    Guys like Otto Vallin, Oleksandr Usyk and Andy Ruiz proven superior boxers avoid Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz.
    1. Deontay Wilder, you have to cheat Deontay Wilder to beat Deontay Wilder.
    2. Luis king Kong Ortiz
    Andy Ruiz was scheduled to fight Luis Ortiz and pulled out of the fight for a tune up first.

  9. The difference between ducking and being strategic is one won’t fight no matter what.

  10. Floyd Junior knows all about ducking as he was always “strategic” about “who” he fought and “WHEN”. He made Pacquiao sit for a number of years, endure a number of wars before they fought. He made Shane Mosley wait 10 years and too many wars before he agreed to fight him, and still nearly got KO’d in 2 rounds. He did the same with Miguel Cotto. He did fight Dela Hoya in his prime and arguably lost to Oscar. And he chose a young Canelo when he did, for lacking experience and at a very young age. Had Mayweather come from the greatest Golden Era of the 80’s, he’d have been just another contender. He would never climb in the ring during the prime of Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Duran, Benitez, Pryor, or Arguello. He would have gotten stopped by all of those Legends. So that’s fine he made the most money, but nowhere close to the greatest fighter despite how many “previous champions” he loves to say he beat.

    • So right Mayweather is the king of ducking opponents that could’ve beat him and waited them out, and now trying to criticize canelo, Mayweather don’t be a hipocrite and get off canelo’s nuts

  11. He’s been busted on steroids more than once, and has had a major increase in his power since being popped for steroids at least twice… All respect lost….

    Just like fury, busted for steroids then all of a sudden he’s knocking out wilder? Pfft boxing is a joke now

    • Jermel or Jermal ? Mike Tyson said Canelo should fight both brother and Benavides’s too.

    • I don’t see what’s so stupid about it. Fans watch boxing because they wanna see good fights.

  12. Mayweather wrote the book on ducking fighters and cherry-picking his opponents.

    • He may as well just write in big bold letters at the top “I’m just here to trash Canelo”

  13. Juan Miguel Marquéz , and Floyd Mayweather both agree with me that Canelo is a steroid user who duck’s fights.

  14. If he beat paper champions then why didn’t any of those guys like charlo, benavidez or Andrade go and fight any of those paper champions???? 😂 😂 😂

    • The reason Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz and other qualified superb American fighters haven’t fought weak sissified European fighters is because they all run like little babies and cry like little girls all on steroids and enhancement drugs. Avoiding the best fighters and begging their mommies,” waaaa waaaa waaaa please don’t make me fight Deontay Wilder with padded gloves Waaaa waaaa, please let me use eggweight loaded gloves and steroids Wawa.”

  15. Eddie has his fighters run from fighters that are good. Run like little girls crying. Waaaa waaaa waaaa waaaa waaaa waaaa, crying like little babies. Cause they are crybabies waaaa.

    • American fighters are the best boxers. Usually eastern block countries have good gymnastic training in youth programs and this makes for strong young men who walk through a lot of punches and are durable but if you keep hitting them enough they’ll call.

    • Canelo has only been caught two times with steroids in the law year. You are referring to clembuteral

  16. Sure Canelo might not be dominating like he use to and that’s because he’s fighting out of his weight class.

    • When Canelo moves up in weight class, he puts in his contract for every pound of weight gained after the weigh-in they’ll have to be fined one million dollars. And of course Canelo can eat and rehydrate with no restrictions what so ever.

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