Ryan Garcia gave his thoughts today on whether Canelo Alvarez is avoiding the unbeaten David Benavidez. Fans believe Canelo, 33, has lost his willingness to take risks after being dominated by WBA light welterweight champion Dmitry Bivol in 2022.
They believe that the loss to Bivol left a bad taste in Canelo’s mouth, making him reluctant to take any more risks with his career for fear of experiencing a similar humiliation.
It’s no secret that Benavidez is a massive super middleweight who should be fighting at 175. The size factor, along with the youth and high work rate, has scared Canelo off.
Being careful with his wording, the light welterweight star, Ryan, doesn’t come right out and claim that the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) blatantly swerving ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs). He says that if it were him, he would have already fought him.
Avoiding a Duck?
“I don’t want to really shoot shots at anybody right now. Look it. Would I have already fought Benavidez? Yes,” said Ryan Garcia on social media when asked if Canelo Alvarez never fights David Benavidez, would it be seen ‘as a duck’ on his part.
“I would never want to put anybody down. That’s not what I like to do, but, yes, I would have already fought Benavidez if I was him [Canelo],” said Ryan.
Ryan has already shown that unafraid to take risks by fighting Gervonta Davis, and now getting ready to challenge the unbeaten WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney next month. Canelo’s avoidance behavior is totally alien to Ryan, who isn’t someone who is trying to protect a legacy by hiding under the covers from the dangerous opposition.
Tarnished Reputation
It’s fair to say that Canelo has already tarnished his reputation by choosing not to fight Benavidez all these years because avoiding a fighter is worse than facing them and suffering a loss.
If there’s one thing that boxing fans don’t tolerate, and that’s blatant cowardice, and many of them have already branded Canelo with that label. Alvarez obviously still has his followers who will stick by his side until the end of his career, but his popularity has suffered.