By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Robert Garcia says doubts that Canelo Alvarez will choose to fight David Benavidez because he doesn’t want to fight “another Mexican.”
Robert acknowledges Canelo vs. Benavidez would be a great fight for the boxing public, but he doesn’t see it taking place.
Interestingly, Robert doesn’t blame Canelo for not fighting the unbeaten Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) because he feels there are a lot of options for him from Eastern Europe and the U.S.
If Canelo chooses to duck Benavidez on a permanent basis, the fans are going to apply a lot of pressure on him to fight a rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and fight Jermall Charlo.
It’s going to look bad on Canelo’s part if he chooses to bypass Bivol & Benavidez and focus on defending his undisputed super middleweight championship against Caleb Plant, John Ryder, and some other lesser fighters.
Canelo will need to give up his WBC 168-lb title at some point because Benavidez is his mandatory. The World Boxing Council can’t allow Canelo to avoid his mandatory Benavidez for years without looking like they’re showing favoritism to the superstar.
“I would love to see that fight. Probably not,” said Robert Garcia to ESNEWS when asked if we’ll see Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez. “You know, Canelo said he’s not going to fight another Mexican. I don’t [blame him].
“Look, there are so many Eastern European guys, all these black Mexican American guys, there are all these white people from the United States, Asians and whoever.
“Would we want to see it? We would love to see that fight,” said Robert about Canelo vs. Benavidez. “That’s a tough fight for both.
“Canelo is very smart in the ring, and he doesn’t go out there and try and please the crowd. He knows what’s good for him, and he does enough to win. So, he’ll do the same against Benavidez.
“Benavidez is the opposite. He’ll go out there to try and make it a war to please the fans. They’d love that, but Canelo is not like that, and I can’t blame him.
“It’s his life in there. He wants to enjoy his family. He’s probably seen the former world champions that went through wars, and I’m pretty sure he’s seen that.
“A lot of them have speech problems, a lot of them have memory problems, and a lot of them have balance problems. Don’t blame them either,” said Garcia.
