Will ducking David Benavidez tarnish Canelo Alvarez‘s legacy? Many claim so. Even after giving 20 years to the sport, fighting against the biggest names, almost a perfect record, winning world championships in four divisions, one fight can still make-or-break his legacy.
The Mexican Monster has been chasing the fight against Canelo for a few years now. He was even a mandatory challenger at super middleweight for almost a year before his jump to 175 lbs. However, Alvarez has always refused the fight, claiming that Benavidez doesn’t bring anything to the table, even demanding a ludicrous $200 million for the fight. While the chances of the Canelo-Benavidez showdown have increased significantly since Canelo’s four-fight deal with the Saudis, we are still far away from it actually happening. Furthermore, there is still a strong chance that we might never see this blockbuster Mexican clash. If that is the case, the former six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya has something to say.
Oscar De La Hoya ridicules Canelo Alvarez’s argument by comparing it to the Ali-Frazier feud
On Tuesday, De La Hoya was beside Ryan Garcia during the official press event for the upcoming May 2 Fatal Fury showdown. After the event, iFLTV’s Colm McGuigan was able to rope in the Golden Boy for a conversation. As the conversation shifted towards his former star Canelo Alvarez, the question arose: Could Alvarez’s reluctance to face David Benavidez cast a shadow over his legacy?
“Absolutely a thousand percent. A thousand percent,” replied De La Hoya without wasting a second. He added, “Benavidez has not only called him out, has not only been mandatory several times for years, has not only um backed off from talking to Canelo.” And if, even after all the callouts, Canelo refuses the fight, it won’t be a good look.
The 52-year-old even bashed the reasoning that Canelo Alvarez gave for rejecting the 28-year-old. “Canelo said, ‘Well I don’t give him the opportunity, because he’s talking about me’,” he said with a perplexed look on his face. After all, “We’re in the sport of talking. we’re in the sport of smack talk, right? How can you not give a guy an opportunity just because he’s talking s**t? Just doesn’t make sense to me,” he added.
De La Hoya claimed that every legendary rivalry has a personal bad blood on the back of trash-talking. Without that, the sport wouldn’t be as exciting as it is. He stated, “Imagine if (Joe)Frazier wasn’t talking to Muhammad Ali or vice versa, imagine, you know, me and Vargas weren’t talking, you wouldn’t get these big mega events these exciting fights so I do not understand it.”
However, despite not agreeing with Canelo Alvarez’s reasoning, De La Hoya knows that it is not his decision to make. “But hey, it’s his career,” he said before wrapping up the interview. Well, it is truly Alvarez’s decision, and it looks like even he is unsure at the moment.
There is still a chance for David Benavidez
In January, Canelo Alvarez sat down with Mike Coppinger on The Ring Podcast to discuss his future. During the conversation, he finally stated the reason for rejecting David Benavidez’s fight. For those who don’t remember, David Benavidez and his father went on a tirade against the Mexican superstar after the latter demanded $150 million for the fight. Something which did not sit right with the 34-year-old.
During the podcast interview, Canelo claimed that even though he always wants to fight the best, the way the father-son duo called him out disrespectfully, he had no reason to give them the fight they were seeking. After all, in the end, the fight will only help Benavidez and his team earn the biggest payday of their career.
“At this point, I fight with everybody with every champion. With all the best out there and when somebody approach you like that and call you out like that, you don’t need to give them money. So, like I say, I can do whatever I want now and just I don’t like the way he approaches for taking the fight,” Canelo explained.
However, even after the disrespect, the Mexican legend has not ruled out the blockbuster fight completely. “But like I say, you never know, too. Maybe someday I wake up and I say I want to this, that guy,” he admitted.
Well, the boxing world would love for Canelo Alvarez to change his mind. After all, this is a fight that could define Mexican boxing’s future for a long time. Let us know your thoughts down below.
The post Putting $200M in Jeopardy, Oscar De La Hoya Slams Canelo Alvarez’s Absurd Reasoning to Duck David Benavidez appeared first on EssentiallySports.