Canelo Alvarez’s manager and trainer Eddy Reynoso has denied claims that they have been offered a guaranteed purse of $55million to face David Benavidez next.
The undisputed super-middleweight world champion is set to return to the ring on May 4 in Las Vegas although his opponent is yet to be announced.
The fight boxing fans are crying out for is an all-action affair with Benavidez, who holds the WBC ‘interim’ belt and has called for his shot.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently confirmed that Benavidez will be made Canelo’s official mandatory in March.
However, a fight won’t be ordered until after the Mexican superstar’s next outing.
Benavidez’s team appear to be losing patience with the debacle and have since announced plans to move up to light-heavyweight to face Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June instead.
The 27-year-old’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, insists they have tried hard to get the Canelo fight over the line to no avail.
In a now-deleted tweet, the Head of Sampson Boxing claimed a $55million (£43million) offer had been tabled by Al Haymon’s PBC for a fight between Canelo and Benavidez that included a healthy chunk of the pay-per-view percentage on top.
“Boxing is unpredictable and can change multiple times in a day ‘yes’,” wrote Lewkowicz.
“PBC in coordination with the Team @Benavidez300 offered Team @Canelo a guarantee of $55million that would exceed $60million by adding @AztecaDeportes PPV and more. We are going to 175lbs.”
But, Reynoso insists such claims are categorically untrue and also said there has been no official proposal for a bout with Terence Crawford either.
“The reality is that none of the big promoters, not Al Haymon from Premier Boxing Champions, not Eddie Hearn from Matchroom, not Bob Arum from Top Rank and not even Oscar De La Hoya from Golden Boy have given me an offer to fight Benavidez… and certainly not Terence Crawford,” Reynoso told ESPN Mexico.
“The fight with Benavidez may take time or may never happen, but it depends on many things.
“There were fights that never happened, that of Lennox Lewis with Riddick Bowe, that of Julio César Chávez with Terry Norris, that of Érik Morales with Juan Manuel Márquez, and none of them stopped going to the Hall of Fame because of that.
“There were others that, although it took a while, ended up being done like that of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, among the fighters there is no fear, we just wait for the conditions to be met.”
Reynoso went on to add that an announcement on Canelo’s next opponent will be made next week.
Jermall Charlo has been reported to be the Mexican’s first choice, though PBC are said to prefer a more lucrative bout against Munguia.
Time well tell how the situation is resolved.
