Benavidez Will Move On From Canelo – ‘I Don’t Need Him, He Keeps Ducking’
David Benavidez says he will move on from Canelo Alvarez if the latter continues to duck him.
Benavidez moved up from super middleweight to light heavyweight after failing to secure the Canelo bout. The Mexican Monster was the WBC Interim Super Middleweight Champion for a considerable period, namely over two years. That put the pressure on Canelo to face him, or he risked getting stripped. That never happened, nor did the WBC call the mandatory.
Canelo responded by requesting $150-200 million to make the Benavidez fight. Only the Saudis could put up those numbers since Benavidez is not a big PPV seller. That would require a solid purse guarantee. But since the Saudis had done that recently with Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, they were unlikely to do it again. Canelo’s comments were seen as a way to price himself out of the fight and avoid the claims that he was ducking.
Benavidez Reacts
Benavidez ultimately beat Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his first fight at 175 pounds via a unanimous decision to become the WBC Interim Light Heavyweight Champion. He is scheduled to face David Morrell Jr. on February 1. Morrell is the WBA Interim Light Heavyweight Champion. The winner becomes mandatory for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Beterbiev.
The latter beat Dmitry Bivol to become undisputed. But there is a high chance that Beterbiev rematches Bivol next. That means Benavidez may not get his undisputed shot immediately, even if he beats Morrell. That could pave the way for a Canelo fight. But if Canelo doesn’t want it, the Mexican Monster has other plans.
“I think I’ve shown my worth. Everybody knows that the fight versus me and Canelo would definitely be a sellout. If Canelo doesn’t ever want to fight me, then I don’t need to fight him. I really don’t care. If he wants to keep ducking me, and not fighting me, and showing the world that he only cares about money and not about fighting the best fighters in the world, then he can do whatever he wants,” Benavidez said
The Future
There is also the chance that Benavidez moves up to cruiserweight. Benavidez’s father, Benavidez Sr., suggested the idea. This would be with a view to making a fight with Zurdo Ramirez. The latter is a Mexican who is the current WBO and WBA Cruiserweight Champion.
Ramirez is 47-1 with 30 knockouts to his name. His only defeat came against Bivol as he missed out on the WBA Light Heavyweight Title. He then moved up to cruiserweight, beating Chris Billam-Smith in his last fight to unify the division. There is a chance that Benavidez could face him in the future.
“Yeah, that’s what we could do right away so that’s what we’re looking for. For some reason, if this fight with the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol is not happening or whatever, we’ll definitely go to a cruiserweight to fight Zurdo Ramirez and hopefully that happens,” Benavidez Sr. stated
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