Why Canelo should not fight Benevidez

Ok. I’ve heard enough of the “Canelo is ducking Benavidez”. It’s the go-to default position for most fight fans. Hey, I love a hellacious boxing contest as much or more than the next fan. But let’s not get crazy and engage in blasphemy. Canelo Alvarez is an icon. His career speaks for itself. At 15, he fought grown men as a professional. At 23 he battled The Goat aka Floyd.

At 26 he goes back-to-back with GGG. Have you ever heard of Miguel Cotto, Shane, Trout, or Jacobs? How about Lara, Billy Joe, and Caleb? Crusher Kovalev ring any bells? Recall the Maniac Kirkland? Canelo Alvarez has fought for or defended a world title twenty-five times. He’s fought in 65 fights: FIVE HUNDRED rounds. So --STOP it. QUIT IT.

Benavidez has only had 28 fights, with only 136 rounds under his belt. Lol. Wins title; 2 fights later he’s stripped due to love affair with Miss Cocaine. He wins back his WBC super-middleweight belt, but less than one year later, the joker gets stripped yet again when he blows-off the weigh-in by almost 3POUNDS! He and his daddy have cried and begged like wet-diapered babies… anything to get a Canelo fight.

Here’s the problem, and it’s Benavidez’s problem, not Canelo’s. Benevidez couldn’t draw flies to  a cow pasture. His bout vs Caleb Plant drew less than 100k  PPV’s.  Don’t laugh.  It’s true. His “highly anticipated” bout against “Boo Boo” Andrade couldn’t crack 10k customers at the gate. How do those numbers make sense? Short answer: They don’t. Promoters lie; not the numbers.          

If YOU were Canelo, why risk a grueling training camp, weight cut, and hard sparring whilst being away from your family for 10 weeks? Just to give a title shot to an undisciplined crackhead who’s already been stripped of a title twice and could easily blow the weigh-in? The crybaby has zero fan base. The loyal and lucrative Mexican fan base aint buying no Equadorian “Mexican Monster” BS. Believe it or not, Mexicans know geography, and Ecuador is not Mexico. Bottom line: Benavidez must make a giant footprint, dare to be great. Beat the winner of Bivol or Beterbiev. Then take David Morrell’s scalp. Then you can stake a claim for $20M purse.

The Canelo haters are out in full force. The powerful and knowledgeable African American fan base wants to see his reign end. So, they cry the loudest, but they have nobody to step up. Steven A. shouts that Canelo is “ducking”.  Just watch the boxing commentary from industry “insiders’. We know Paulie, Algieri, Teddy, and Tim Bradley aren’t going to speak up for Canelo. So, the Benavidez false narrative lives on. Time to clean that up.

Canelo and his team are highly intelligent. They want Benavidez to put some hard miles on his body and see him eat some shots; slow him down a bit--take on some light-heavyweight, maybe eat some Mungia shots. Old-fashioned wear and tear, tenderize him. He’ll rehydrate 25 pounds and anything can happen in boxing. So, they are being savvy. THEN PAY CANELO HIS $120M.

Then watch The Lion roar!   

Blake Chavez answers all his emails: blakesocrateschavez@gmail.com