A fight between Canelo and David Benavidez is one of the most called for in the sport, with many of the opinion Benavidez poses the toughest test at super middleweight for the holder of all four world titles.
After successfully defending his undisputed status against mandatory challenger John Ryder last month, droves of fans of social media have demanded Canelo to fight Benavidez next, and an offer was reportedly sent to the pound for pound star by Benavidez’ team.
When asked for his opinion on the fight, hall of famer Roy Jones Jr told Boxing News that he can understand why Canelo may not be overly keen for a meeting with ‘The Mexican Monster’, who, according to Jones, is a “hungrier” than Canelo.
“It’s a very good fight, it’s not a walkover for either fighter, both are really good fighters. Benavidez definitely has the work rate, which Canelo doesn’t want to see right now. Because Canelo is a rich man who doesn’t need anything, and it’s hard for a rich man to get up and work every day.”
“But because they’re both Mexican, there’s a pride thing there too.”
“Right now, I think that Benavidez is the hungrier fighter with more to prove. He wants to get rich, whilst Canelo already is rich.”
All this looks to be inconsequential, as news came out recently that negotiations had fell through and that Benavidez would look to take on PBC stablemate David Morrell in the second half of the year.
It remains unclear what Canelo’s next move will be, with a rematch with Dmitriy Bivol now also said to be off the cards.