David Benavidez is still upset about how Canelo Alvarez has avoided him for the past five years, refusing to fight him. He believes that Canelo dislikes him.
WBC light heavyweight champion Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is still holding out hope that Canelo will fight him soon. After all these years, he believes there’s a chance he’ll grant him the opportunity to face him.
Fans Calling It Obsession
Fans see Benavidez as obsessed with Canelo, and can’t let go of this fixation he has of one day sharing the ring with the Mexican star.
This Saturday, Bensvidez headlines the Ring IV card, defending his WBC title against Anthony Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) on November 22nd at the ANB Arena in Riyadh. That should be enough to make him happen, but apparently it hasn’t. He wants Canelo.
“I just think he doesn’t like me as a person. He doesn’t like that I’ve been calling him out,” said David Benavidez to Ring Magazine about why Canelo Alvarez has chosen not to fight him. “Everybody he fights shows him respect. But f*** that. We’re fighters.”
Benavidez’s constant pursuit of Canelo is the real problem. He’s pushed for that fight much harder than other fighters have, and that has worked against him. Canelo doesn’t want to get involved with a fighter who seems obsessed with him.
Benavidez’s Version of the Feud
“I was respectful to him for a long time. And then they kept calling me out, talking s*** about me, saying I’m not this and not that, I’m not dedicated, and I’m a drug addict,” said Benavidez. “That’s when I started defending myself. ‘Alright, if I’m all this, come f**** shut me up. Come show me I’m nothing.’”
Just because Canelo has a low opinion of Benavidez doesn’t mean he has to fight him. That doesn’t make sense at all. It just means he views him as someone he doesn’t respect for how his career has gone. Benavidez failing a drug test years ago wasn’t a good look, obviously.
“They can’t say, ‘I’m not going to give David Benavidez a chance because he doesn’t deserve the money.’ The whole boxing world is calling for that fight. Everybody wants to see that fight. It makes sense on every aspect of the game,” said Benavidez.
Canelo’s Decline Changes the Stakes
There’s seemingly less interest now in a fight between Benavidez and Canelo than there was in the past. Canelo’s loss to Crawford last September, and his lackluster performances against Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia, have taken a lot of the appeal in a fight between him ‘The Mexican Monster.’
“I don’t know what his problem is with me. I think he knows what would happen to him if he got in the ring with me. I’m not those guys that come to play, and I take that stuff serious. I think he doesn’t like me,” said Benavidez.
If Benavidez had stopped hounding Canelo years ago, he might have gotten a fight with him. But he’s seemingly burned his bridges with the Mexican star, and now it may be too late.
“I don’t know if he doesn’t want to have the people of Mexico behind me. I don’t know what it it is, but he knows for a fact what happens to him if he gets in the ring with me,” said Benavidez.
