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Sampson Lewkowicz stood by strong assertions he made earlier this week involving his key charge, super middleweight contender David Benavidez, and Mexican cash cow Canelo Alvarez.
In an interview with Tha Boxing Voice, Lewkowicz stated that Alvarez, the undisputed champion at 168 pounds, had been offered “much more” than $50 million to face Benavidez later this year.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger previously reported that Alvarez was weighing two options: one offer was extended by Al Haymon’ Premier Boxing Champions for Alvarez to face middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo in what would be a one-off. The other came from Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing in the form of a two-fight deal. The first fight would require Alvarez to face light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol, the second, a trilogy match against Gennadiy Golovkin. Alvarez is reportedly leaning toward the latter deal.
The offer to Alvarez for fighting Benavidez, Lewkowicz said, was for the fall. Lewkowicz said Benavidez significantly reduced his purse demand to sweeten the pot for Alvarez. Benavidez is already set to face veteran puncher David Lemieux sometime in the spring, although that fight has yet to be officially announced.
“That’s correct,” Lewkowicz told BoxingScene.com when asked about Benavidez lowering his financial demands to fight Alvarez. “Benavdiez took a paycut. He doesn’t want the check. He wants the opportunity to fight for the title.
“He’ll not fight for free, but he’ll fight for half or minimum. A fight with Canelo brings something to the table. What does he bring? He’s number one in the world. Benavidez being the youngest 168 pounder ever deserves the opportunity to fight number one in the world.”
Lewkowicz personally does not think Alvarez’s team will ever allow him to face the 25-year-old Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), at least not anytime soon, which is a shame, Lewkowicz said. Lewkowicz believes an Alvarez-Benavidez match-up has the best chance of generating the most pay-per-view buys of Alvarez’s career, precisely because, he says, Benavidez is viewed by the public as a legitimate threat.
High risk, high reward, as the saying goes.
“In my opinion it would be the biggest pay-per-view Canelo ever had because he has a shot to lose,” Lewkowicz said. “The people who hate Canelo would buy pay-per-view. The haters will not buy when it’s an easy fight for Canelo. Many boxing people don’t buy Canelo fights. You buy pay-per-views of some of those [fights] because you think he’ll get beat. All these haters of Canelo would pay 79 dollars to see Benavidez beat him.”
Lewkowicz, who also promotes 154-pound contender Sebastian Fundora and lightweight veteran Javier Fortuna, took a shot at Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), one of the leading candidates in the running to score a fight with Alvarez.
“When you have an easy fight, a Bivol or anybody else, then you have no shot [at making big money],” Lewkowicz said. “The haters don’t spend the money. Haters spend the money when you have a shot to lose.”
Lewkowicz understands that given all his accomplishments, the 31-year-old Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) is free to pick and choose his opponents as he pleases. Lewkowicz, however, hasn’t been impressed with Alvarez’s recent selections, despite the fact that at least three of them were undefeated titleholders at 168.
“Is he number one on earth today?” Lewkowicz said of Alvarez. “Well, he has all the right to choose the best for himself. However, Benavidez is making good money and doesn’t fight for the check like the others. The people watching him know that. What he wants is what the others (fighters) don’t want. He wants to be number one. All the [other Alvarez opponents], which I believe, the last three or four, (Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders, Avni Yildirim, Callum Smith), came for the check, knowing that they cannot beat him.”
“All of them come for the check. Benavidez is not about the check.”