For the fifth time in five fights for the undisputed super middleweight crown, Canelo Alvarez remained king and more importantly, maintained his status as the face of boxing.
As the fight game’s most bankable fighter, Alvarez calls the shots and once again found an opening to score a knockdown, even if it didn’t lead to a KO win. Alvarez floored Jaime Munguia in Round 4 of Saturday’s victory, but like Jermell Charlo and John Ryder before him, beat the count to lose via a lopsided decision.
Now, public demand will grow louder for Alvarez to fight rising star David Benavidez, “The Mexican Monster,” who broke out last year with brutal beatings of Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.
“If the money’s right … I can fight [Benavidez] right now,” Alvarez said. “I don’t give a s—. It’s only a matter of money at this point. Everybody is asking for everything.
“When I fought [Erislandy] Lara, Austin Trout, Miguel Angel Cotto, [Floyd] Mayweather, Billy Joe Saunders, GGG, everybody said I don’t want to fight them, and I fought all of them. So right now … I can do whatever I want.”
“He’s not going to fight me,” Benavidez added. “I think he’s just running out of things to say. He’s literally said every excuse. He said that I only bring 25 pounds in and I’m not nothing. I’m this and that. I’m not dedicated, I’m not respectful.
“I think he’s scared of him losing and then me taking all his [fans]. That’s what it is. I don’t really think he’s scared of me. I think he doesn’t want me to get the torch passed.”
But Benavidez is not the only fighter Alvarez can meet to quiet the critics. There’s also Terence Crawford, ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer. Crawford was ringside and came away impressed with Alvarez’s performance.
You got two of the top fighters of this decade, not just in the past year or so,” Crawford told ESPN following Alvarez’s win over Munguia when asked why he believes a fight against him would be bigger than Alvarez facing Benavidez. “You got two fighters that’s been at the top for 10 years. You got the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world and you got the No. 1 money man. I never like to overlook anybody, I got a fight coming up Aug. 3, and that’s where my main focus is at.
