With the rumor mills swinging of Canelo Alvarez and his supposed departure from Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), an actual confirmation has yet to actually transpire with Alvarez himself having not yet confirmed the news―as Alvarez has always announced the most important decisions of his career at some point. However, Floyd Mayweather Jr.―who claimed he basically owned/ran PBC―has now come out with statements which essentially affirms Alvarez has indeed departed.
“A lot of times, fighters are going to do what’s best for them, and [if] Canelo [Alvarez] feels that’s the best thing for him, you have to do what’s best for you ’cause you’re the only one who has to get in there,” Floyd Mayweather told FightHype.com. “You the only one that has to live [with] the decisions you make.“
Floyd Mayweather Jr. further alluded to Canelo Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KO’s) having departed when he left a well-meaning message for the Mexican undisputed super middleweight champion.
“He’s a future Hall of Famer, and a hell of a fighter, and everybody runs their business different,” Mayweather stated. “So I wish him nothing but the best.“
Canelo Alvarez now appears to be considering Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KO’s) and Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO’s) as potential opponents, both fighters who are aligned to DAZN through respectively Zanfer Promotions [who has promoted Munguia his last couple of fights through Golden Boy Promotions] and Matchroom. Given where these two super middleweight contenders are currently situated, Alvarez is widely expected to make the move to fight for DAZN by signing a deal with Matchroom who he had fought for prior to signing with PBC.
The latest reports indicate Alvarez’ split with PBC was caused by the two parties failing to agree terms for a Jermall Charlo (33-0, 24 KO’s) fight on May 4th, which would make that the second bout in which Canelo Alvarez would participate in due to the three-bout contract he signed with PBC last year.
Berlanga is now tipped to be Alvarez’ opponent for May 4th, while Munguia is being eyed for September. While both are considered top contenders in the 168 lbs division where Alvarez holds all the belts, #1 contender and WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez (28-0, 14 KO’s) would be denied the opportunity to face Alvarez if the reports are found to be true.
When the interview topic centered around Benavidez’ inability to fight Canelo Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather also gave Benavidez some advice about he could go about landing bigger fights.
“Well, if David Benavidez keeps beating fighter after fighter, and champion after champion, eventually he’ll be the man,” Mayweather said. “And then everyone will want to fight him. That’s just how it works.“
Mayweather’s statements reflect a concerning trend within the sport of boxing where the best fighters consistently need to prove themselves, while fighters of lesser ability tend to land the big fights against well-known fighters such as Alvarez due to them not being that much of a threat. Alvarez’ fight with John Ryder, the British former WBO interim champion on May 6th, 2023, was rather quick to make despite Ryder not having been the #1 contender at the time.
In regards to recent rumors of Canelo Alvarez seeking to fight Munguia and Berlanga rather than Benavidez, this again points out towards willingly choosing to fight anyone but the top contender in his division, which directly contradicts the point of competitiveness.
When analyzing Mayweather’s own career, it may not be too surprising to see him make such comments as he himself had been in the position where he refused to fight the best available, denying Kell Brook an opportunity at the time which prevented Brook from truly progressing in his division where he reigned as the IBF welterweight champion while Mayweather held the WBA and WBC 147 lbs titles.
Though Floyd Mayweather did choose to fight the WBO champion in the division at the time, Manny Pacquiao, to create the highest-grossing fight in the history of the sport, Brook was still denied an opportunity despite the fact a fight between the two would have been for undisputed. Mayweather’s argument at the time for not facing Brook was that he wasn’t popular enough in the U.S. for the fight to be feasible, which resulted in 147 lbs contender Andre Berto being chosen instead.
Benavidez now finds himself in a similar position as Brook all those years ago, despite being regarded as the top contender over both Munguia and Berlanga due to his credentials as a former world champion and his better resume.
Despite being denied an opportunity at super middleweight, David Benavidez appears to be looking onward and has recently been reported to face Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KO’s) in the near future for the vacant WBC interim light-heavyweight title, which might give him a path to face the winner between WBC, WBO and IBF 175 lbs champion Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO’s) and WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (22-0, 11 KO’s) who are expected to fight sometime this year.
