LAS VEGAS – A day after Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso said his fighter’s return from elbow surgery – and his third career defeat – will come against new WBC titleholder Christian Mbilli in Saudi Arabia, a rival reacted.
“No one wants to see that shit,” two-division champion David Benavidez said Thursday in a session with reporters following his news conference with his Saturday opponent, Mexico’s unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, at MGM Grand.
Alvarez, 63-3-2 (39 KOs), will meet Mbilli, 29-0-1 (24 KOs), on September 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reynoso’s statement was followed Thursday by a report from The Ring, owned by Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh.
France’s Mbilli was elevated to WBC belt holder earlier this year following the December retirement of five-division champion Terence Crawford.
On the Netflix undercard of Crawford’s September unanimous decision victory over Alvarez at Allegiant Stadium here, Mbilli fought Guatemala’s unbeaten Lester Martinez to a WBC Fight of the Year draw.
Since he was already the No. 1 contender, Mbilli was moved to full titleholder and Martinez was made the interim titlist.
“You guys want to see that?” Phoenix’s Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs), asked reporters after being denied a title shot by Alvarez for several years while positioned as WBC No. 1 and mandatory contender. “I’m not trying to be a dick, bro, but … who the fuck is Mbilli?”
Benavidez said a more entertaining bout for Alvarez would be a fight against his former stablemate, unbeaten No. 2-ranked WBC contender and former No. 1 WBO contender Diego Pacheco.
“Diego Pacheco has a way bigger name than Mbilli.”
Alvarez is planning to attend his stablemate Jaime Munguia’s 168lbs title shot at WBA belt holder Armando Resendiz in Saturday’s Prime Video/DAZN pay-per-view co-main event at T-Mobile Arena.
At Thursday’s news conference, Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said Alvarez’s career is scarred by the fact he wouldn’t test himself against the next great in his division – as Julio Cesar Chavez Snr did with Oscar De La Hoya, and as De La Hoya did with Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao.
“I don’t think nothing of him. Am i supposed to get excited?” Benavidez asked of Alvarez’s Saturday attendance. “At the end of the day, I don’t want him to be at my fight. I want us to fight.
“If he’s going to come, that’s good for the fans who are fans of Canelo. They can see him.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
