In June, former super middleweight world champion and interim WBC titleholder in the same division, David Benavidez, decided to enter the light heavyweight division. The reason is banal: the boxer was tired of waiting for a fight for the full belt, he had already managed to defend his “temporary” title twice, but at the same time he was not given a fight with Saul Alvarez.
First of all, there have been complaints against Canelo for some time now about the fact that he freezes out deserving contenders, and Benavidez is completely on his virtual hit list:
“Benavidez has nothing to offer me. The only thing he has to offer is 11kg more weight on the day of the fight. I don’t box him because he has nothing to offer me. However, if the promoter I’m working with comes and offers me $150-200 million, I’ll fight him tomorrow. That’s the only reason to box him because all he can make on his own is 11kg.”
Canelo is slowly losing the affection of his fans:
Canelo is a fading superstar. Alvarez is no longer adored even in his homeland
Due to this situation, Benavidez moved to another weight class and immediately fought there for another temporary WBC belt with Alexander Gvozdyk. David proved that he can compete with the best light heavyweights, faced the former champion quite confidently and was caught in an interesting position: Benavidez owns two temporary WBC belts in two weight classes.
At the same time, he himself remains primarily focused on Canelo: “I definitely want to exercise my right. I have worked for this all my life, and especially during the last three years. This is something that would be wise to do. This was the perfect opportunity for me to move up in weight and win another belt. But I can still easily weigh 76.2 kg and I am still looking for opportunities to get there.”
David Benavidez
Photo: Steve Marcus/Getty Images
The problem is that the WBC is protecting Alvarez, not stripping him of the belt and not allowing Benavidez to get close to him. This has not been a secret for a long time, otherwise David would not have defended the temporary belt, but he would have had the opportunity to compete for a full title a long time ago. Therefore, Canelo’s closest rivals could be Chris Eubank Jr. or Edgar Berlanga. A completely different level, with all due respect to them.
However, the head of the organization, Mauricio Suleiman, is not going to leave Benavidez as a contender in two weight classes. At the end of June, David was forced to decide within two weeks where he would fight next. And recently the time for reflection was extended by one more week.
Benavidez has the option to remain at light heavyweight as the WBC’s top contender. Artur Beterbiev holds the full belt, and if David decides to fight in this division, he will again have to make a difficult decision. Either he will have to defend his interim title or mentally prepare for the downtime, because Beterbiev is scheduled to fight Dmitry Bivol in October and the possibility of a rematch cannot be ruled out. Obviously, a fight for the absolute championship is more profitable for Benavidez than a title fight.
Beterbiev and Bivol should meet in the ring in the fall:
“I wouldn’t say Bivol is the most serious opponent.” Is Beterbiev underestimating Dmitri?
David is in a strange situation because none of his options guarantee him a fight with the champion. And this is the case when a rather talented and skilled boxer becomes a victim of circumstances and does not have the opportunity to confirm his level and ambitions. Canelo himself will easily fight against less dangerous opponents and will continue to freeze Benavidez until David himself abandons this idea.
In the light heavyweight division, at least there is no such thing as the champion intentionally avoiding the challenger. Both Bivol and Beterbiev defend their titles, fight, you just have to wait for the result of their face-to-face fight. Apparently, David is also ready for this: “This is not the fight I want. This is the fight I deserve. When you win the interim WBC title, you reach the top. These challenges are difficult, but to become a great fighter, to become a legend, it is necessary. None of the legends had it easy. Why should I expect it to be easy for me? I will continue to work hard.”
One way or another, no matter what choice Benavidez makes, he will get the biggest fight of his career. Beterbiev, Bivol and Canelo are all among the top ten boxers in the world, and a fight with any of them could give the boxing world a new superstar.
