The Canelo Alvarez–David Benavidez saga is never-ending. With the Bandera Roja moving up to light heavyweight and Cinnamon signing a four-fight deal with Saudis, the prospect of their fight should be long gone. However, that is not the case. See, this is a fight that intrigues fans and experts alike. Everyone wants to see the present and future of Mexican boxing collide against each other and till the pair is in each other’s reach, no one will let it go.

However, to everyone’s disappointment, the chances of this fight happening are getting slimmer. Fans have been blaming Canelo Alvarez for that. Furthermore, the unified super middleweight champion has been under a lot of fire for selecting easy fights and ignoring legitimate contenders. However, amidst the sea of criticism, it looks like the Guadalajara native has found one more in a former boxing veteran.

On Tuesday, in a conversation, former four-division champion, Mikey Garcia opened up about Cinnamon’s four-fight deal with the Saudis. According to him, in 2025, Canelo Alvarez is “gonna make a lot of money,” for his fight against Terence Crawford and William Scull. However, “He is not doing any fight because boxing matters, he is doing low-risk fights to, you know, (make a lot of money).”

The former unified lightweight champion claimed that all the fights lined up in front of Canelo are low-risk which the Mexican can easily win and “generate 40-50 million dollars” in profit while avoiding legitimate contenders. However, despite that Mikey Garcia “can’t blame him.” After all, “In the last 5-6 fights, he(Canelo) has probably made 200 million dollars. Probably more.” So, why would he risk everything and “take anything that’s a high-risk fight?” pondered the veteran boxer.

It is true that ever since losing against Dmitry Bivol in 2022, Cinnamon’s fighting record has been rather underwhelming. His fight against Gennadiy Golovkin was followed by underwhelming fights against John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, and Jaime Munguia. And when everything looked set for the David Benavidez clash, he chose Edgar Berlanga instead.

However, dismissing the likes of Terence Crawford and William Scull as easy fights is quite shocking. Bud is a two-division undisputed champion and pound-for-pound No.1 for years. On the other hand, El Indomable currently holds the IBF super middleweight title, despite not having won it in a fight. As the curiosity took over, the interviewer asked Garcia, “What’s a high-risk fight?” in his opinion.

Will Canelo Alvarez give this one a miss?

Without missing a beat, the former world champion replied, “Bivol, Beterbiev, that kind of, those are dangerous fights. Benavidez, you know, that kind.” He even picked David Benavidez as the favorite if that fight ever happens. “I was confused between the two. But after seeing Benavidez last time, I think Benavidez beats him,” stated Garcia boldly, referring to Bandera Roja’s blockbuster fight against David Morrell. That said fight propelled him to a position where he could challenge for the undisputed 175 lbs title and he looked quite dominating doing that.

Mikey Garcia is terming the Crawford fight as easy because of the weight disparity, whereas for Scull, his record is not really that of an elite, at least in comparison to Canelo Alvarez. Canelo Alvarez is naturally heavier than Crawford and will have an undue advantage against Scull because of his experience facing elite competition, both of which will be reversed if he ever faces David Benavidez. So, it looks like Canelo Alvarez still has a lot of naysayers.

Top Comment by Boxing all the way

Nope, i believe he is doing good he’s done his time, he’s just enjoying himself making money to retire everyon

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However, the Ventura native won’t blame the Mexican champion if he never steps into the ring against the opponents he listed. He has done so much for the sport that he deserves to choose his opponents, according to Garcia.

While the fans will always have doubts regarding the last stretch of his career, he will earn too much to even care. What do you think about Mikey Garcia’s statement? Do you think Canelo Alvarez is picking an easy payday? Let us know your thoughts down below.