It’s one thing for a fan to think it. It’s another for a Hall of Fame two-division champion to say it for all to hear.

So Timothy Bradley Jr.’s verbal undressing of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s "Deep Waters" went to an area where only world champions stray, as they speak among themselves in sincere, sober tones.

Bradley’s discussion sprouted from a panel talk over whether unbeaten former super middleweight champion David Benavidez should move on from Alvarez’s jilting and accept a December date against the winner of the June 1 bout for the undisputed light heavyweight crown between three-belt champion Artur Beterbiev and his unbeaten Russian countryman and WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol.

“Obviously, Canelo’s not willing to face [Benavidez],” Bradley said in reference to Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) bypassing Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) in favor of his Mexican countryman and former junior middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia for a May 4 Cinco de Mayo weekend date.

Bradley implied Alvarez is disrespecting a code held by greats before him, such as an aging Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. meeting a peaking Oscar De La Hoya twice in the 1990s, and De La Hoya bowing out after losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Even the current case of Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) putting his junior bantamweight belt at risk June 29 in Arizona against Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) grabbed Bradley’s attention. Mexico’s Estrada turns 34 next month. Rodriguez, a two-belt flyweight titleholder, is 24.

“Those guys … there’s something called Mexican pride,” Bradley said.

“When you have someone calling your name – like growing up in the ‘hood and somebody new to the area terrorizing it – you’re supposed to be that guy to hold it down. [Benavidez] is calling your name, and you don’t show up? You don’t do anything about it?

“When is Canelo going to answer that call? It’s his duty – him being [Latino] and him being challenged by another [Latino]. He’s supposed to answer that call. No matter what.”

Amid the chatter that Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh is interested in the idea of staging a December bout pitting Benavidez against the Beterbiev-Bivol winner should Benavidez defeat former light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15, such a move would leave Alvarez to perhaps settle for a likely one-sided trouncing of Brooklyn power puncher Edgar Berlanga in September.

Although Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said he would like to see conversations turn to placing Alvarez-Benavidez in Las Vegas on Amazon Prime Video pay-per-view in September, many cast doubt that the event will occur this year because Alvarez would rather wait to see if Benavidez can weather these light heavyweight challenges and create another undisputed-versus-undisputed clash next year.

“I don’t care about the business [or] anything else,” Bradley said. “If you have pride in yourself and you believe in yourself … you’ve got another man doing the same thing you are, but he’s calling your name. You gotta stand up, man.

“When are you going to stand up and actually show the people what they need to see?”