On this week’s All The Smoke Unplugged, Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson talked a little sweet science as they discussed Canelo Alvarez reportedly turning down a big payday.
David Benavidez has said he was willing to accept a deal to fight Canelo Alvarez that would have seen him earn $5million while Canelo got $60million (which equates to a 92/8 purse split), plus Canelo would’ve had a PPV percentage: “I was completely fine with that. This guy was…
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 2, 2024
So Matt wants to know: Is Canelo running from David Benavidez?
Stak says that’s how it’s going to look to everybody. He says you have to give Canelo his credit — he’s been fighting for a long time and has fought near everybody. Stak and Matt agree he’s one of the greats, so Stak says he has the right to choose who he wants to fight and how he wants to direct his career. Stak points out that Canelo has said he wants to fight a Mexican fighter because he wants to honor Mexican fighters and bring some of that revenue to Mexico. But, Stak also points out that Benavidez is probably the biggest Mexican fighter aside from Canelo. So why wouldn’t you fight him?
So when Benavidez is willing to take $5 million because he knows the money will come after he beats Canelo, that makes it look to the fans like Canelo is running from him. Stak wants to see Benavidez fight Canelo, but if the fight doesn’t happen Stak says he doesn’t lose any respect for Canelo because he has earned the right to call his own shots.
Matt says we always all want to see these big fights and to turn down this reported 92/8 payout offer, what else is there that could be done? So it’s definitely not about the money. We’ll see where the story goes from here.
The guys also go on to discuss everything going on with Ryan Garcia heading into his upcoming fight with Devin Haney.
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Watch or listen to the full episode below and keep an eye on DraftKings Network for new episodes of All The Smoke Unplugged every Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET!
SHOW BREAKDOWN
Crooked NBA Statkeepers, 40/20 Rule, Ryan Garcia/Canelo ft. Pablo Torre | All The Smoke UNPLUGGED
- ATS Unplugged is coming in HOT this week. The guys are joined by Pablo Torre to discuss his story on the rigged NBA stats of the 90s, the difficulties of an athlete entering and athlete space, and more. Plus, they talk all the latest boxing drama around Ryan Garcia & Canelo. They also talk about Phil Jackson’s 40/20 rule and which teams have a chance to break it this year.
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