By: Sean Crose
Just how much does super middleweight terror David Benavidez want a piece of undisputed divisional champion Canelo Alvarez? So much that he took to Instagram on Friday to address Saudi sports big shot Turki Alalshikh.
“@turkialalshik,” posted 28-0 contender Benavidez, “let’s bring the biggest and most exciting fight to Saudi Arabia. This will be the biggest Mexican vs Mexican American fight in the history of boxing and what better place to do it than The Kingdom, for the entire world to see. This fight is for pride and glory. I fight for greatness not money. Your Excellency if I do not beat Canelo, I will donate my entire purse to any kids charity of your liking. When I do beat Canelo, I will be donating a huge amount of that purse to benefit children hunger across the world. I’m a champion of the people and will continue to fight the best! I stand by my words! @premierboxing @wbcboxing @wbcmoro“
It’s worth noting that Canelo has not shown much interest in facing Benavidez, at least not right away. Then again, Canelo took criticism for “avoiding” Gennady Golovkin years ago. He ended up having three fights with the man, winning two out of three (though most felt Golovkin won the first match). In other words, although he’s not fighting Benavidez now (Canelo will be fighting Jaime Munguia in May), he may well ended up facing the powerful contender later.
Not that Benavidez or fans are happy about that. Canelo-Benavidez is one of the biggest fights to be made in the sport, after all. What’s more, Benavidez should clearly be next in line for facing the legendary Canelo. Were Canelo not holding on to the divisional title, it might be another story entirely. The red haired star, however, is holding on to his belts.
Saudi Arabia has become a hotbed of high level boxing due to the fact that it throws enormous amounts of money at the sport, which obviously makes the Middle Eastern Kingdom a logical destination. Canelo, however, still appears to want to fight in the United States and Mexico. Suffice to say, Canelo has recently stated that he will need to be extravagantly paid if he is ever to square off with Benavidez in the ring. “If some promoter I work with,” he told Fight Hub, “comes to me and says, ‘I’m offering you 150 or 200 million dollars,’ that would be the only reason I would fight him,”
