Canelo was as elusive on the mic as he was in the ring when it came to a callout from Crawford and the possibility of a fight with Benavidez.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was back in the ring on Saturday night to give his fans a Mexican Independence day fight … not the fight they asked for, but a showcase fight none the less. Canelo beat up Edgar Berlanga for 12 rounds, knocking him down in the third to take the fight 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110 (watch the highlights here).
Alvarez was an insane -1800 favorite coming into the fight, with no one giving Berlanga a chance to dethrone the super middleweight champion. The undefeated 27-year-old did put up a good fight. Many in his position may have wilted, but Berlanga never stopped scrapping even as Canelo continued to beat him soundly.
This wasn’t a fight that anyone asked for, and Canelo went on the offensive the moment he hit the mic for his post-fight interview.
“Now what they gonna say?” Canelo asked during his post-fight interview. “I fight younger fighters! Before they say I fight older fighters. Now what they gonna say? They always talk. I’m the best fighter in the world.”
The big rub people have with Canelo is he seems uninterested in facing the top names available at the moment. David Benavidez is the biggest and most hyped challenge out there for him right now, but Alvarez has made it clear he has no interest in moving up in weight to face him.
Then there’s Terence “Bud” Crawford, who called out Canelo on fight night.
“No comment,” Alvarez said when asked about Crawford’s video.
“All I want to do is rest right now,” he said of his future. “I want to enjoy my victory, I want to enjoy my family who I missed a lot. And then I’m going to get together with my people and decide who’s next.”
?? Terence Crawford and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh calling out Canelo Alvarez after his win vs Edgar Berlanga…
[ @TerenceCrawford] pic.twitter.com/ubtfnaInOF
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 15, 2024
He also shrugged off the option of fighting in Saudi Arabia down the line.
“If you pay me what I’m worth, I’m willing to consider any and all places,” he said through his translator. “But right now I’m really happy fighting here in the U.S. in front of my Mexican fans.”
Canelo played coy during the press conference, but reports have him aiming to rematch Dmitry Bivol in May 2025 for Cinco de Mayo. Bivol holds a unanimous decision win over Alvarez from 2022, Canelo’s first defeat since losing to Floyd Mayweather in 2013. It’s an understandable choice given the circumstances, but still not the fight fans are clamoring for.
Alvarez has made it clear that he plans on fighting whoever he wants, and if anyone wants him to do otherwise they’re going to have to pay him insane amounts of money to even consider it. That’s bad news for David Benavidez, Terence Crawford, and fans of Canelo looking to see the biggest fights possible for one of boxing’s biggest stars.