David Benavidez’s handlers say undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez is only hurting himself by avoiding the top contender.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman on Monday told Boxing Social that Alvarez has been ordered to defend the WBC title against mandatory challenger Benavidez this year or he’ll risk losing the belt. Alvarez is free to fight anyone he wants on May 4, which presumably means Sulaiman is thinking September for the showdown.
However, Sampson Lewkowicz, Benavidez’s promoter, said that he doesn’t expect his client to face Alvarez at any time this year. He and Alvarez’s handlers evidently have not had serious negotiations.
“Canelo Alvarez will make his legacy and his legacy will be stained because he did not fight the best at this time, which is Benavidez,” Lewkowicz told ProBox TV. “I think the children, maybe the grandchildren one day, will ask him why he did not fight Benavidez because [Canelo] says he wants the best fights, but that’s the best fight.
“Now he says he’s going to fight an American [on May 4]. At one moment … it was [Jermall] Charlo. Now we don’t know who the American might be. We have an idea of who it might be, but since I’m not involved in those negotiations, I can’t say who it is because I don’t know. … I do know that Canelo’s legacy will be tarnished.”
Lewkowicz went on: “Now if he fights [Benavidez], it doesn’t matter if he wins or loses. The legacy of him is going to be the best for me in the history of Mexican boxing because he went to fight the best, like [Julio Cesar] Chavez did, like Juan Manuel Marquez did, like [Marco Antonio] Barrera did, like so many top boxers did that have achieved glory.”
Alvarez said last Tuesday that he plans to fight an American on Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas but provided no further information.
Charlo is rumored to be the leading candidate but the 160-pound titleholder has been cagey when making reference to Alvarez, first saying that he hasn’t talked to manager Al Haymon since he outpointed Jose Benavidez Jr. (David’s brother) in November and then saying “nothing is official,” which seems to imply that he’s Alvarez’s choice.
Alvarez ruled out a potential fight with 147-pound champion Terence Crawford because of the weight difference.
The only other viable potential opponent from the United States would seem to be unbeaten Edgar Berlanga. The unbeaten New Yorker, who is scheduled to fight Padraig McCrory on Saturday, hopes to face Alvarez in May but Alvarez hasn’t indicated he’s interested in the matchup.
An announcement should come soon: May 4 is only 2½ months away.
