Terence Crawford thinks Canelo Alvarez won't fight David Benavidez because Benavidez has been too disrespectful. Crawford believes it's not about avoiding the fight, but about Canelo taking Benavidez's words more personally than usual.
Crawford, who has a perfect record of 41 wins with 31 knockouts, shared his thoughts on why Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) hasn't stepped into the ring with Benavidez yet. He pointed out that Canelo has fought other fighters who've trash-talked him before.
"When you look at Canelo's history, about all the disrespectful fighters, challenging him, there were a lot of them. He fought them all. From Shane Mosley to Lara, Danny Jacobs and Saunders"
But Crawford thinks the situation with Benavidez is different. Even though Benavidez isn't actually from Mexico (he's American with Ecuadorian and Mexican roots), Crawford believes Canelo sees him as a fellow Mexican. This makes the disrespect hit harder.
"When you look at all the fighters that were disrespectful to Canelo and still fought them. I think from a Mexican standpoint, when you have two Mexicans and one is extra disrespectful to the other, he just took it more personal because of the racial aspect than the sport"
Crawford added:
"He got the sport off his back and decided he wasn't going to give Benavidez the payday he wanted just because he felt something different at the time"
Many fans think Alvarez is ducking Benavidez because he's worried about losing or getting knocked out. They remember when Canelo chose to fight Dmitry Bivol instead of Artur Beterbiev at 175 pounds back in 2022.
Crawford might have his own reasons for speaking up for Canelo. There's talk about them potentially fighting on September 13. For Crawford, this could be a big payday that sets him up for retirement. Some folks think he's painting Canelo in a good light to help make sure the fight happens.
