Canelo Alvarez Shuts the Door on David Benavidez Fight

Canelo has fought twice previously at 175lbs, against Sergey Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol, but he now believes Benavidez is only calling him out for a payday, that he missed his chance at super middleweight, and that he is more likely to fight heavyweights next.

“Every fighter is calling me out," Alvarez told Mike Coppinger on the Inside the Ring Show yesterday. "Always they are looking for the payday.

“When we are both in 168, I fought every champion of the division, I say to myself, why did he never fight those champions. If he was a champion at that point I would fight him, because my goal was being undisputed.

“Right now, it's just impossible, he can fight with the heavyweights. I understand why he’s calling me out, it’s fine.”

Both men are on different paths

The pair's priorities now seem to be worlds apart, despite Benavidez calling for the fight. He has been on record saying he wants to venture back down to light heavyweight to fight two former undisputed champions - Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev - which seem better match-ups for the cruiserweight champ

Canelo is preparing for his return to the ring after some time out following his loss of the super middleweight titles to Terence Crawford last September, reenergizing himself and rehabilitating some old injuries.

Despite this, his goals remain the same, as he will fight the recently elevated WBC super middleweight champion, Christian Mbilli, in Riyadh on September 12 in a fight that promises to be all action in a clash of hard-hitting styles.

It therefore seems that the fight that was once one of the biggest in boxing is now finally dead and buried, with their paths too diverged to reconcile.