Lucas Jones
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez rose to become the face of boxing and the best fighter of his era through a career that saw him constantly challenging himself. From chasing big fights to moving up the weight classes, the current undisputed super middleweight champion could rarely be accused of shying away from a challenge.
This is why Alvarez’s recent behavior has been so shocking to many in the boxing world.
Alvarez is set to fight Jaime Munguia in Mayonce again choosing to face an opponent other than the top super middleweight contender, current WBC interim champion and two-time former world champion David Benavidez.
Alvarez suggested that a fight with Munguia is “more important” to him than facing Benavidez, while also saying he would need more than US$200 million be seduced into fighting.
With that in mind, the boxing experts at CBS Sports sat down for a conversation about whether or not Alvarez is “dodging” a fight with the best challenger in his weight class.
Brent Brookhouse: While we both have a lot of respect for Alvarez and the risks he has consistently taken throughout his career in pursuit of greatness, I have to ask you, Brian, can we officially declare that Canelo is dodging Benavidez?
Brian Campbell: Typically, we try to give the benefit of the doubt to fighters who consistently prioritize taking the biggest, toughest fights, regardless of the advantage they have acquired due to their superstar or celebrity status. In Alvarez’s case, he has earned years of goodwill throughout his legendary career, with few mistakes worth criticizing along the way. But it’s one thing for fans or members of the media, right from the couch, to question a fighter’s motives or bravery. Another thing, however, is when a famous fighter’s colleagues start to question things. And recent criticism from Hall of Famer Mike Tyson asking if Alvarez is afraid of Benavidez now seems appropriate.
Even with Benavidez’s history of being stripped of his WBC title twice, which understandably prevented him from fighting Alvarez during the Mexican icon’s march towards the undisputed title in 2021, it has now been three years. The fighters also compete on the same television network and, to date, mostly in the same division. There are no more excuses for Alvarez, especially when he is holding the division back by blatantly preventing one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport from getting the hard-earned opportunity to prove himself. Oh yes, and one more thing: the fight is among the biggest that could be made, right now, in the entire sport. What other excuses could there be against the idea that this is a duck?
Brookhouse: To be fair to Alvarez, if you look back at the time February, when he and PBC split – before they finally returned to the Munguia fight – their own promoters apparently weren’t discussing the Benavidez fight as the next step. There were reports from Dan Rafael that Jermall Charlo and Munguia were two names being pushed for May, with PBC’s Al Haymon reportedly willing to agree to the Charlo fight if Alvarez was willing to face Benavidez in September. You could say that Alvarez leaving PBC after the deal was put in front of him could be something of a drawn-out duck, but it’s worth noting that a fight with Benavidez was apparently never on the cards in May. With that in mind, perhaps it’s fair to consider September as the date for Alvarez to face Benavidez or possibly suffer a permanent stain on an otherwise untarnished legacy.
Barring injury, Alvarez should fight in September. Can you think of any fights that would be considered “acceptable” other than Benavidez for September? Charlo will not be seen as an attractive option. And while a fight with Terence Crawford might quicken the imagination, after Alvarez cited Benavidez gaining significant weight between the weigh-in and fight night, fighting someone who has yet to fight above 147 pounds would seem a bit hypocritical.
Campbell: Wait a minute, you just identified the problem there: weight. While I understand the realities of the boxing business and the fact that Alvarez’s three-fight deal with the PBC somehow didn’t contain language about a Benavidez fight, it’s Alvarez’s own comments of late that have stirred the pot so negative in the direction of this being a duck. If you want to say that a fight with Terence Crawford isn’t possible because of the apparent lack of credit Alvarez would receive for beating someone three weight classes lower, that’s fine. But Benavidez is actually in Alvarez Division. And although Benavidez rehydrated to over 25 pounds by demolishing the undefeated Demetrius Andrade last November, how could Alvarez justify his position that Benavidez is too big?
Last time I checked, Alvarez knocked out Sergey Kovalev to win the light heavyweight title in 2019, returned to the division in a 2022 loss to Dmitry Bivol and once publicly teased a move to cruiserweight to pursue more history, enhancing its legacy. Oh, and he also once fought Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at a 164-pound catchweight in 2017, against one of the biggest “bully bully” abusers in modern boxing history.
Alvarez can’t have it both ways. You can’t be the undisputed champion of a division just to choose who you defend against. And you can’t complain about being the smaller man when you built your legend by daring to be great. Alvarez can compare the public’s demand to what he went through before fighting Gennadiy Golovkin for the first time, when critics felt he would avoid it. But if Alvarez wants to bring it back, we also need to remember that he made GGG wait two years until he turned 35 for his first fight and failed a drug test before the rematch.
If you don’t want to defend the titles against the interim champion and #1 contender, drop the belts. It’s that simple. Unless you think it’s mostly about honor and not wanting to do what you’re told. Does Alvarez deserve that luxury at this point? Or do you think he’s simply stirring the pot so that the fight will eventually be even bigger than it already could have been?
Brookhouse: It’s also worth noting that Alvarez not only moved up to fight Bivol at light heavyweight, but one of the reasons the rematch didn’t go as planned was that he didn’t give in to Bivol’s desire to cut down to 168 to fight for Alvarez’s undisputed crown. because Alvarez wanted to return to light heavyweight for one more bite at the WBA championship apple. And, before his move to super middleweight, Alvarez wasn’t exactly at the weigh-in on fight night. It’s a reality of modern boxing that guys are making big cuts and rehydrating heavily within 24 hours of stepping on the scale. And how can we gloss over Alvarez’s most recent fight against a man (Jermell Charlo) moving up two divisions for his first fight in a year and a half?
I would love to think that Alvarez is trying to build hype for a fight with Benavidez, but he became undisputed in November 2021. Although he was already the best super middleweight outside of Alvarez before he did so, Benavidez won the interim WBC title in May 2022, which added “mandatory” to his “best” challenger status. There’s not much more hype to build on. Frankly, Alvarez is being just as dismissive of Benavidez as he was when he laughed at Andrade for his attempts to disrupt Alvarez’s post-fight press conferences.
Alvarez should give up at least some of his titles if he isn’t committed to fighting the best in the division. Yes, it’s Benavidez’s fault that he lost the WBC title twice, once for testing positive for cocaine and once for missing weight, but he’s the best challenger available, and if Alvarez isn’t willing to give him his chance, it’s I need to make room for Benavidez to fight for the world title. Of course, when you reach the level of stardom that Alvarez has, it’s easy to win a game of chicken against the sport’s sanctioning bodies. It would be surprising if he turned the steering wheel toward Benavidez now.
