Canelo Alvarez versus David Benavidez has been viewed as one of the biggest fights in boxing for years. Despite Benavidez letting his feelings known that he would love that bout, Alvarez has avoided it.

Crawford isn’t calling Alvarez scared. But is he cautious and a little reluctant? That sounds about right.

“I just think Canelo, in a sense, knows how big Benavidez is gonna come in the ring,” Crawford told Joe Rogan during a recent appearance on his popular podcast. “Benavidez is a great fighter, but he’s also a big fighter, a tall fighter. I think Canelo knows this guy is gonna be massive come fight time.”

From a physical standpoint, Benavidez holds a seven-inch height and four-inch reach advantage.

At one point, however, Alvarez and Benavidez campaigned in the super middleweight division at the same time. When Alvarez captured every 168-pound title, Benavidez was his number one contender. Benavidez held the WBC interim title from May 2022 to November 2023, but Alvarez was never mandated to face him.

Feeling as though he was wasting his time, Benavidez eventually moved up. The 29-year-old has since captured the light heavyweight division’s WBC strap.

He is scheduled to take on Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez for his WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles May 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Although Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) continues to move up in weight, Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) is comfortable where he is.

The 35-year-old Mexican icon is plotting his comeback from losing his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound belts to Crawford via unanimous decision September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Alvarez wanted an immediate rematch with Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs), but the 38-year-old five-division champion announced his retirement in December.

Alvarez still seeks an opponent for his return to the ring September 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in an event billed “Mexico Against The World.”

Overall, the future first ballot Hall of Famer has won belts in four divisions. In some of his biggest fights, Alvarez was often the smaller man. So, while he’s gotten criticism for not fighting Benavidez, Crawford wants his former rival to get a bit more credit for the names he’s already faced.

“Canelo’s not a big guy,” Crawford said. “He’s been fighting big guys his whole career and beating them with skills. You gotta tip your hat to Canelo and what he’s accomplished – going up to 175 and fighting these big guys and actually winning.”