David Benavidez is Artur Beterbiev’s WBC mandatory – but does it matter?

With Artur Beterbiev claiming the undisputed light-heavyweight championship with victory over Dmitry Bivol, unbeaten WBC interim champion David Benavidez officially stands as mandatory challenger, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed to BoxingScene Tuesday.

The issue – as it was while Benavidez waited three years as top-ranked and mandatory contender to undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez – is whether the power of that position equates to putting that fight on the calendar.

Benavidez’s father/trainer, Jose Benavidez Snr, remembers vividly that Alvarez-Benavidez was “never made” despite his son’s position, but he maintains hope that a new fight and a new division will result in a different outcome this time around.

Former super-middleweight champion David Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), has signed to meet Cuba’s unbeaten World Boxing Association secondary champion David Morrell Jnr, 11-0 (9 KOs), on an expected Prime Video pay-per-view headliner in late January or early February in Las Vegas, according to the elder Benavidez.

“Everybody thought David (Benavidez) was running from David Morrell. But he was the one who called (Premier Boxing Champions head) Al Haymon and said he wanted that fight, and he got it,” Benavidez Snr said. “Morrell and David both have a lot of fans who think they’ll win the fight. David (Benavidez) has all the experience to hurt him and maybe even stop him.”

Doing so should strongly position Benavidez for the shot at Russia’s Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), although because of the entertainment value of the first bout with countryman Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs), Saudi Arabia’s Sela, headed by Turki Alalshikh, could likely opt to push for a rematch that could keep Benavidez on a title-fight pause.

“That (title shot is) the reason we went up to 175: to fight the best: The winner of Beterbiev-Bivol,” Benavidez Snr said. “Right now, our focus is the upcoming fight with Morrell. We have to look impressive in order to get those big fights. That would be something that David is looking for. He would love that fight. Before that, we have a tough, young, strong fighter in front of us. We’re going to make that fight to see if we’re going to get Beterbiev.”

The history of being put off is certainly in mind, but until anything happens to indicate a repeat of the Canelo treatment, Team Benavidez is returning to its attitude of the early days of being the top contender at 168 pounds.

“We’ve just got to be consistent and hope that things change,” Benavidez Snr said. “I hope the same thing doesn’t repeat. We’ve got to stay positive, keep working, stay busy and hopefully we get the opportunity. We felt at 168 there was no opportunity. We hope at 175 there is. We keep struggling, keep working hard and we hope that opportunity is given to David.”

Bebavidez Snr said he was eagerly anticipating Beterbiev-Bivol, and watched it closely.

“It was a very close fight. I believe Beterbiev (at age 39) is not the same guy we used to see,” Benavidez Snr said. “I was expecting more from him. He has a big punch. He tried everything he could. He didn’t even (wobble) Bivol.

“Bivol didn’t throw a lot of punches … he threw a lot of straight punches. Beterbiev was looking to cut the distance and catch him with a big shot. It was very close. David comes with a lot of combinations, uppercuts, body shots and is aggressive. David can be a different fighter. Young and hungry. And I think he’ll come out on top.”

He thought the same against Alvarez, and never had the chance to execute.