David Benavidez isn’t ruling out a victory for Terence Crawford in his potential fight against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in September.
Unlike his dad, Jose Benavidez Sr, David stays positive. He does not sound annoyed that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) could be getting the fight he’s been chasing for over five years against the Mexican superstar Canelo.
Benavidez Unbothered
You wouldn’t blame Benavidez if he were upset because Crawford would be moving up from 154 and getting a straight title shot against Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) without ever having fought in the division.
The fight still hasn’t been made yet, but it’s believed that Turki Al-Sheikh will make it happen. Canelo-Crawford is a fight that hardcore boxing fans want to see. Casual fans would be less interested but would get caught up in the hype and follow the herd to order it on PPV, even though it’s not a clash they’d be interested in. Crawford isn’t a big star outside of the ultra-hardcore fan.
“It’s a good fight. I don’t have nothing against any of them. Crawford is a great fighter,” said David Benavidez to 210BoxingTV, seemingly trying not to sound bitter, talking about the potential September clash between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
“Well, Crawford is coming up from 154. 168 is two weight classes above, but Crawford is Crawford. He’s a good fighter. If anyone can beat Canelo, it’s Crawford.
“I don’t think he would come up to 175. I think 168 is the most he would come up,” said Benavidez when asked if he thinks Crawford would fight him. “I’m done with 168,” said David, whether he would move back down to 168 for fights against those guys. “No, I’m done [with super middleweight].
“The fights not going to happen at 168. You see Crawford is fighting all these people. I’m worried about 175,” said Benavidez.
It’s hard to know if Benavidez is serious about believing Crawford can win this fight. He might be hiding his true feelings to avoid appearing resentful, who can’t handle Canelo’s passing over him in favor of an undeserving fighter.
In a recent interview, Canelo said he didn’t give Benavidez a fight because he didn’t like the way he approached him.
