Boxing people everywhere are still groaning about the absolute lack of action that came in Saturday’s four-belt unification “fight” between Canelo Alvarez and William Scull. And rightly so. I say “fight” because, well, as anyone who was able to stay awake through the 168 pound bout knows all too well, this was no fight. It was one of the worst “fights” in recent memory, right up there with the infamous Johnny Nelson-Carlos DeLeon affair from back in the 1990s in terms of sheer dullness.
And promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, who rightly states that the Naoya Inoue-Ramon Cardenas battle from Sunday “saved the face for boxing,” has had a real dig at Canelo. Speaking with the media after Sunday’s terrific 122 pound slugfest that saw Inoue score an 8th round TKO after having been decked in round two, Lewkowicz said he wouldn’t put Canelo in the ring with his guy David Benavidez “for fear of him getting hurt.” And Lewkowicz was referring to Canelo as far as the man who would get hurt if the fight took place.
“You can’t buy good fights, those two events in New York and Saudi Arabia cost in the high tens of millions and they were nothing compared to Sunday’s Top Rank event, which cost a fraction of that amount, but delivered the kind of action we needed to save the face for boxing. After watching Canelo Alvarez Saturday night and how he looked, I wouldn’t put him in with Benavidez for fear he’d be badly injured. David Benavidez will fight in the fall and then be ready for Cinco de Mayo to face either Bivol or Beterbiev, where the torch will finally be passed to him as the new face of boxing.”
It’s tough to disagree with what Lewkowicz has said here. Number one, Canelo did look poor, even if it was Scull who did all the running; Canelo should have been able to put some hurt on Scull and get him out of there. And two, Benavidez, who has been calling out the Mexican star for many months, would very likely put a beating on Canelo at this stage. Canelo may well have earned too much money, big, big money, and his hunger is no longer there. Canelo, as we know, will not fight Benavidez anyway, so there is no concern about him getting hurt. Instead, Canelo will fight the “too small” Terence Crawford, this in September.
As for who “The Mexican Monster” will fight in the fall, that will prove interesting. But Benavidez against either Bivol or Beterbiev would be absolutely great for the sport. Can Benavidez do what Lewkowicz says he will do, and become the next face of boxing? Does that title still belong to Canelo, for now at least?
