David Benavidez has long made it clear that he wants to prove himself as the best fighter in the world, and has an ambitious hit list to do so.
The 29 year old has won world titles in three weight classes, most recently defeating Gilberto Ramirez in a career-best performance to become unified champion at cruiserweight.
Though he had initially planned to drop back down to light-heavyweight, Benavidez has since made it clear that 200lbs is where he is most comfortable right now, and will remain there until a move up to heavyweight, perhaps in two years’ time.
Though there are plenty of intriguing match-ups to come for ‘El Monstro’, he has now fully accepted that he will not get the chance to share the ring with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez after years of chasing.
Speaking on The Last Stand podcast, he said that his days of calling out Canelo are done.
“Yeah, I mean, I think honestly I could say with confidence that that fight is never going to happen. And, you know, I just, you know, I don’t want to keep disrespecting somebody that’s not going to – not even disrespecting, but just calling somebody out that doesn’t want to fight.”
“Canelo, at the end of the day, he’s a great fighter. He’s a legend. And, you know, I would like to be a legend like him and follow in his footsteps and become a great fighter like him.”
Benavidez looked set to earn his shot years ago when he fought his way to the mandatory position in the super-middleweight ranks with the WBC when Canelo held the title. The sanctioning body failed to enforce the fight, and Alvarez says he was not interested at that time due to his goal of becoming undisputed, which he achieved in 2021.
When Benavidez moved up to light-heavyweight, fans still held out some hope that the fight could be made given that Canelo has completed twice at the weight.
This confirmation of a sustained cruiserweight run does now end all hope, and Benavidez seems to have accepted as much. He is set to face Michal Cieslak in December in an attempt to add the WBC 200lbs belt to his collection, and a thriller against Jai Opetaia waits on the other side.
