In the world of professional boxing, David Benavidez has made a significant decision to stop pursuing a fight with Canelo Alvarez. Known as ‘The Monster,’ Benavidez has now set his sights on the light heavyweight division. For years, he was the WBC mandatory challenger for Alvarez’s super middleweight title, but the continuous delays and lack of a scheduled fight with the undisputed champion have led to his frustration. Alvarez, on his part, has shown limited interest in facing Benavidez, and there are swirling rumors that his next opponent might be Edgar Berlanga instead. Benavidez, who is 27 years old, is preparing for his light heavyweight debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, a former WBC champion, with their bout scheduled for June 15.
The initial press conference for the upcoming fight took place on May 4, where Benavidez openly discussed his decision to move away from the potential Alvarez fight. He expressed his feelings by stating, “I did everything I can do at 168 [pounds]. I’ve been there for ten years, the only other thing I had to achieve was fighting for the unified world titles. And Canelo Alvarez is holding all of them. So he doesn’t want to give me the fight.” His determination to carve out his own path in the 175-pound division was clear as he added, “I’ve been the [WBC] mandatory for the past three years, I’ve done everything I could do to get that fight. I still haven’t gotten it, so I’m not going to wait around for anybody. I’m gonna go make my own lane at 175 [pounds] and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
Meanwhile, Canelo Alvarez has maintained his position as the undisputed super middleweight champion after defeating Jaime Munguia, marking Munguia’s first career loss. The fight took place on the same day as Benavidez’s press conference. Post-fight, when Alvarez was questioned about the possibility of fighting Benavidez next, he chose not to divulge many details and instead mentioned that he was looking forward to some rest.
However, boxing analyst Shawn Porter has his own views on who should be next in line to fight Alvarez. Porter believes that former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford is more deserving of a fight with Alvarez than Benavidez. Crawford has recently moved up to light middleweight, and according to Porter, “The two fighters right now who deserve a fight with Canelo Alvarez: Terence Crawford, one, and then David Benavidez, two. Terence has just done it all, he’s really earned it.” These comments add an interesting angle to the ongoing discussions about Alvarez’s next opponent in the boxing community.
