Since the beginning of the year, David Benavidez and his fans have been gunning for Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, labelling him as a ‘duck’ for avoiding a potential fight.
Now, Benavidez is being painted with the same brush for supposedly steering away from a bout with David Morrell.
Canelo made his intentions, or lack of, clear as he consistently demanded a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, whom he lost to last year.
However, Bivol’s side claim the poster boy of the sport made ‘stupid’ demands for the sequel to their rivalry, leading to a breakdown in negotiations.
With that off the table, Benavidez’s team supplied the undisputed champion with an offer of their own, but, as they tell it, Alvarez refused to respond.
Now, Benavidez is instead being mentioned alongside David Morrell, with the winner making a strong case to get a shot at Canelo, or the vacant titles at the very least, should he move up in weight.
Morrell slammed Benavidez for ‘ducking’ their fight, as reported by BoxingNews.co.
“David Benavidez is a big b***h,”
“His dad is a big fraud always talking like he’s some tough guy, but he’s a small man with a little man complex. His brother wants to be a gangster and talks a lot of s**t, but got knocked out by Crawford and did a horrible job in the movie ‘Creed’. The Benavidez’ are a bunch of cowards.
“The guy you call The Mexican Monster? He’s a fraud. This is the guy everyone is building up? I see a fat insecure boy, that’s what I see. Benavidez couldn’t walk down any street in Cuba without getting his shoes taken. Funny he calls Canelo a duck, who’s the duck now?”
Morrell – a Cuban southpaw – is 9-0 with eight knockouts, and is largely considered one of the biggest threats the division for the near-future.
Benavidez believes the 25-year-old hasn’t done enough to deserve a shot, though, and has instead named Jaime Munguia as his ideal target.