“Canelo was never interested,” said David Benavidez when asked by DAZN why a fight with Canelo Alvarez never happened.
The reaction on social media was critical. Many fans said Benavidez should be selling the Ramirez fight rather than revisiting an old complaint. Strategically, he needs the Canelo association to keep his PPV numbers from tanking, especially since Zurdo doesn’t bring a massive casual fanbase. But at the same time, you can hear the genuine bitterness. He’s the fisherman who had the world-record catch on the line for three years and never got to net it.
It’s already forlorn. Watching David Benavidez still griping about a missed opportunity from three weight classes ago is tiresome to listen to.
Benavidez spent years as the mandatory boogeyman at 168, and Canelo basically treated him like he didn’t exist. That kind of professional freezing-out leaves a mark. Now that Canelo has been knocked off his perch by Terence Crawford, Benavidez probably feels even more bitter that he never got the chance to be the one to do it.
While Benavidez is stuck in the past, the picture has completely changed. With Canelo coming off that unanimous decision loss to Crawford last September, the Canelo era is arguably over. If Benavidez wants to be the new face of Mexican boxing, he’s doing himself a disservice by playing the jilted ex.
If Benavidez goes out there on May 2 and absolutely destroys a unified cruiserweight champ, the Canelo talk might finally die down because he’ll have a brand new, heavier crown to talk about. But if he struggles or wins a boring decision while still complaining about Saul, he risks becoming the guy who defined his entire career by a fight he never actually had.
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