Benavidez Sets Sights On Light Heavyweight Dominance, While Canelo Remains A Dream

David Benavidez was in fine form today. He complained about Canelo Alvarez not fighting, seemingly using him as his main promotional tool to create interest for his 12-round fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk this Saturday night in his debut at 175 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Fans haven’t noticed Benavidez fighting this Saturday because he’s been talking about Canelo during interviews and not letting people know about his clash against Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs).

Ideally, Benavidez should be talking about his fight against Gvozdyk becaue he’s supposed to promote it. Still, he’s so dialed in and obsessed with fighting Canelo, he’s not doing that.

The Spoiled Fighter Syndrome

Part of the problem is Benavidez is spoiled, and not used to being rejected when calling out a fighter. At 168, when Benavidez wants to fight someone, he always gets his way, but not with Canelo, and it drives him nuts.

That’s one of the drawbacks of being a spoiled fighter. They feel entitled, and when someone says, ‘No,’ they can’t handle it and it leads to the obsessive behavior that we’re seeing with Benavidez.

Benavidez will be fighting for the interim WBC light heavyweight title on the undercard of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Frank Martin this Saturday, June 15th, on PBC on Prime Video Pay-Per-View.

The ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s goal is to defeat the 37-year-old Gvozdyk and then take on the winner of the October 12th undisputed light heavyweight championship between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Benavidez wants to become an undisputed 175-lb champion and make a lot of money from that fight, which will likely be staged in Saudi Arabia. From there. Benavidez wants to return to 168 and face Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight championship.

Benavidez will be a two-division undisputed champion if everything works out right in 2025. That’s the ideal scenario for the 27-year-old Benavidez. What could happen is Benavidez is beaten by Gvozdyk or the Beterbiev vs. Bivol winner, and he retreats back down to 168, or he becomes one of the many contenders in the light heavyweight division, trying to make the best of things.

With Benavidez’s giant ego, he won’t be able to handle being one of the contenders at 175, so he’ll likely return to 168 and continue to pursue a fight against Canelo, which would be even less likely to happen.

The Canelo Obsession Continues

“I think this is the perfect time for me to move up to light heavyweight. Obviously, the fight the whole world wants to see is me vs. Canelo. Since that fight isn’t happening, we’re doing the next best thing. We’re going up to 175 and starting our campaign there,” said David Benavidez to First Take about why he’s fighting Oleksandr Gvozdyk this Saturday night on June 15th for the WBC interim light heavyweight title.

“After I win this fight, after I win the WBC interim [light heavyweight] title, it’s going to put me in position to fight for all the belts. It’s going to put me in a position to fight the winner of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, and they have all the belts there.

“I’m not going to wait for no man. If Canelo Alvarez doesn’t want to make the fight, we’ll do the next best thing, and we’ll go up and try to conquer this weight class.

“It’s not an issue making the weight. I can still make 168 good, but I’m naturally a big guy. I’m getting older, and I’m getting more muscle mass in my body. So, 175 seems a more natural weight for me, but as I said, if there’s a way that I and I could get the fight at 168, I’m the #1 contender.

“I’ve been there for the past there for the past three years, and I’ve done everything in my power to get that fight. So, if we can still get that fight against Canelo Alvarez, we’re going to go down to 168.

“I do think he’s trying to avoid me,” said Benavidez, crying about Canelo yet again. “The whole boxing world knows this is the biggest fight in boxing, and this is a fight that we deserve to give it to the fans.

“We should be giving it to the people because they’re the ones that pay their hard-earned money to watch these fights. This is definitely a fight that the whole boxing world is waiting for, and hopefully, we can get it made in the future.

“If I’m not marketable enough, why is he asking for $150 million for me?” said Benavidez about Canelo wanting to be paid well to fight him. “The whole boxing world, this is the only thing they want to watch.

“For Canelo saying, I only bring 25 pounds in for the fight, and I have no value; it’s just because he’s scared. He knows as soon as I get in the ring with him, all those belts will be leaving with me, and I will defeat Canelo Alvarez, and I will become the undisputed champion at 168.

“He definitely is running from me. The whole world sees that. He’s running out of excuses. He’s running out of places to hide. I definitely do believe in my heart that I can stop Canelo Alvarez,” said Benavidez.