Canelo Alvarez says he’s willing to fight David Benavidez next if the “money is correct” after he deals with Jaime Munguia this Saturday night in the title defense of his four super middleweight titles at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Price Tag
The boxing public has been pressuring Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) to defend the massive cruiserweight-sized Benavidez lately, but he’s not going to do it unless he’s paid well. Canelo has already asked for $150-200 million, which is a fair price, given the interest in that fight.
The aging British heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are receiving that kind of money for their fights in Saudi Arabia. Those are older, shop-worn fighters making tons of cash. These guys are well past their prime hanging around to soak up the cash from the Saudis in awful mismatches.
It’s only fitting that Canelo gets the same kind of dough for a real fight against younger fighters that Americans actually want to see.
It makes sense for Canelo to ask for similar money to fight Benavidez, who is in the prime of his career at 27 and massive in size for the 168 and even the 175-lb divisions.
Canelo is basically being asked to fight a cruiserweight the same size as Jai Opetaia, and he should get paid well to fight three divisions outside of his weight class. Fighting a cruiserweight deserves a premium payday.
Since Benavidez doesn’t want to fight where he belongs at 200, mixing it with Opetaia, he’s not going to have much luck getting a fight against Canelo unless someone is willing to cough up the $150-200 million smackers to make this fight a reality.
Canelo’s Confidence
I don’t blame Canelo for wanting that kind of cash to fight a weight bully. He’s probably going to be given away 20 lbs on the night in dealing with the size of Benavidez.
“If the money is correct, why not? I can fight him on Saturday night too. Of course, I’ll beat that guy. If the money is correct, I’ll beat that guy the same night [as Jaime Munguia],” said Canelo Alvarez to First Take on whether he’ll fight David Benavidez next.
If someone can come up with the dough to allow Canelo to whet his beak, he’ll take the fight with Benavidez in a heartbeat and fans can stop crying about wanting the fight.
