A long-term rival of Canelo Alvarez has criticised the Mexican’s most recent in-ring performance against Terence Crawford.
Alvarez was beaten by ‘Bud’ Crawford in their historic showdown at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 13, surrendering his undisputed super-middleweight championship in the process.
The 35-year-old from Guadalajara now finds himself at a cross-roads in his professional career, with many fans and analysts left wondering whether the four-weight world champion could be approaching the final chapter of his tenure.
One fighter in particular that has been chasing a showdown with the Mexican great in recent years is reigning WBC light-heavyweight champion David Benavidez, who was the mandatory challenger to Canelo for a period of time last year.
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Benavidez questioned whether Canelo actually took his showdown with Crawford seriously before claiming that the 35-year-old’s ego is ‘too big’.
“I think Crawford took it way more serious than Canelo, which is kind of weird because you know the amount of money that Canelo was making, and I know all these people say ‘Oh yeah you’re talking s–t about Canelo’, I’m not talking s–t about him he just didn’t look like he really prepared 100%, he’s throwing ten punches a round, his ego’s that big.”
Benavidez appears to have accepted that a showdown with Alvarez is now unlikely to happen, much to his frustration. The 28-year-old from Phoenix now campaigns at 175lbs and is set to make the first defence of his WBC world title next month against Britain’s Anthony Yarde in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
