Canelo Alvarez has explained why he exited the T-Mobile Arena just as David Benavidez was gearing up to deliver a ruthless performance against Gilberto Ramirez.
‘The Mexican Monster’ became a three-weight world champion by beating Ramirez, who was relieved of his WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles via a sixth-round stoppage.
Prior to the finish, Benavidez had scored a fourth-round knockdown in his first outing at 200lbs, where his speed represents a key advantage against naturally bigger opposition.
That much became strikingly apparent for Ramirez, who was made to climb off the canvas for the first time in his career.
There was little hope for a remarkable turnaround, then, when the 34-year-old was floored a second time and remained on his knee, experiencing a nasty swelling on his right eye.
Shortly after getting his hand raised, Benavidez called out former undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo, who was only in attendance for Jaime Munguia’s undercard clash with Armando Resendiz.
Supporting his stablemate, Alvarez watched on as Munguia dethroned Resendiz with a unanimous decision victory, which saw him claim the WBA world title at 168lbs.
After that, though, Canelo was in no mood to hang around, telling Fight Hub TV that he had no intention of watching the main event from ringside.
“I just came to see Jaime Mungia.”
While Canelo has never expressed much enthusiasm for their potential showdown, it nonetheless appears that Benavidez is still holding on to a slither of hope.
Either way, the WBC light-heavyweight champion is likely to move back down to 175lbs, perhaps in pursuit of an undisputed encounter with Dmitry Bivol.
