David Benavidez said in an interview that he believes he can lure Canelo Alvarez up to 175 to face him by defeating David Morrell on Saturday, February 1st, then defeating the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 winner to become the undisputed champion.
Benavidez believes Bivol will defeat Beterbiev in their rematch on February 22nd, and he’s confident he can defeat him from the sparring he did with him.
Overlooking Morrell
It was thought that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) had finally given up on trying to get the Canelo fight, but he revealed on Tuesday that he still thinks that it’ll happen.
“I knew one day they would ask for that fight, and today, it’s amazing how much attention that fight is getting,” said David Benavidez to All The Smoke about a fight between him and Canelo Alvarez.
“I think I’m winning more right now with him putting it off because people are seeing. They offered him $70 million to fight me. That’s before fighting me. So imagine after PPV. So, what Canelo does is he pays guys flat fees. They had offered me $5 million. I said, ‘Cool.’ We agreed, said, ‘Yes,’ and then we never heard back.
“They were calling the bait out. They wanted to see if I would say yes or no. They were calling the bait out. They thought I was going to say, ‘No, I’m not going to fight for $5 million.’ This fight is worth way more. So, I called their bluff and said, ‘Yes,’ and that’s the last time I heard about that fight,” said Benavidez.
David shouldn’t focus on a fight against Canelo Alvarez right now because he has a risky fight against Morrell this Saturday. Moreover, Canelo hasn’t shown any interest in fighting David, and he seems to pick fighters that interest him.
“But this fight is inevitable. Everyone is asking for it. It’s the biggest fight that can possibly be made,” said Benavidez about a fight between him and Canelo. “I’m not scared of Canelo. I feel like I can beat him. That’s basically what I’m been doing with David Morrell.
“David Morrell has been talking a lot, saying I can’t beat him, and what am I doing? I’m going and facing him. That’s what a true champion should do. If I’m sitting here telling Canelo I can knock him out and beat him, why doesn’t he come shut me up and make a lot of money? That’s what he’s doing now. He’s fighting easier opponents and making $30 million. If he fights me, he makes triple that. So, make it make sense.
“I feel like he knows it’s the toughest fight, and in his head, he potentially knows he could lose. That’s what I know. I know that for a fact. That’s why he’s not taking this fight. I don’t think he’s scared of me. He will fight me, but he knows if he loses this fight, he’s probably going to retire. So, that’s a big IF for me.
Canelo’s “Bait”
“My plan is now, beating David Morrell. Going up and winning the undisputed title in that way, I can entice a fight with Canelo. Maybe we can do a catchweight at 172. I don’t know if they would allow it,” said Benavidez.
That sounds like a deluded pipe dream on Benavidez’s part, talking about beating Morrell, then becoming undisputed at 175. On top of all that, Benavidez thinks he can lure Canelo up to light heavyweight to fight him, which has very little chance of happening. Canelo isn’t going to fight someone who is going to outweigh him by 25 lbs on the night of the fight. He just did that against Edgar Berlanga and had a tough time.
“It would be the highest-paying fight of all boxing. It’s possible it can happen. Tyson Fury got $150 million. Usyk got like $150 million. I think Canelo is putting the price out there, letting people know what the cost is. Now, you see, he met with Turki Al-Sheikh,” said Benavidez.
I don’t see Turki paying Canelo $150 million to fight Benavidez. That doesn’t sound realistic, especially after Benavdiez loses to Morrell. If anyone is going to get a giant offer, it’s Morrell.
“So, I think we’re in a good position right now. I always keep my thoughts on my opponent in front of me. We’re not thinking of Canelo right now. We’re thinking of David Morrell, and after that, we’re going to win the undisputed title,” said Benavidez.
‘The Mexican Monster’ sounds like he doesn’t have his head screwed on correctly because he’s clearly overlooking Morrell, who may not only beat him but knock him out in the process. But if Benavidez does win this fight, he’s going to have a lot of trouble trying to beat undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev if he’s the one that ends up with the belts after his fight against Dmitry Bivol on February 22nd in their rematch in Riyadh.
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