Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has rejected the accusations that he’s ducking a fight with top super middleweight David Benavidez. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Canelo, who holds the undisputed crown at 168-pounds, signed a three-fight agreement with Premier Boxing Champions [PBC].
The first fight of the deal will come against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo, who moves up in weight by two divisions. That contest will take place on September 30th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with Showtime Pay-Per-View carrying the event.
Provided he overcomes Charlo, most fans would like to see Canelo face Benavidez, who is currently the mandatory challenger under the WBC.
While Benavidez and his fans believe Canelo is running from the fight – the top man at 168 is rejecting those claims.
“Everybody say the same thing all my life. When I fight with [Austin] Trout, they say I’m ducking Trout. When I fight with other fighters, they say I’m ducking [Gennadiy] Golovkin, I’m ducking Erislandy Lara. Every time I beat every single fighter they say I have this other fighter… they find somebody else. I’m ducking nobody. I’ve been in this position a lot of times. I just do the fights that are the best for the fans,” Canelo told The Breakfast Club.
When pressed for an answer on whether or not Benavidez will be an opponent in the three fight PBC deal, Canelo was noncommittal.
“I don’t know. We don’t know that. We’re 100% focused on this fight and we’ll see. We’ll sit down with [PBC founder Al] Haymon and make the decision for the next fight,” Canelo said.
At the moment, Benavidez and his handlers are in talks for a fall showdown with undefeated former world champion Demetrius Andrade. Earlier this year, Benavidez punished Caleb Plant over twelve rounds for a decision win.