To the surprise of nobody, David Benavidez mentioned a certain Canelo Alvarez after his light heavyweight win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk on Saturday. Benavidez, who pounded out a wide 12 round decision win over Gvozdyk, received pretty decent reviews for his performance, but some critics have suggested Benavidez is far better suited to the 168 pound division – where Canelo rules supreme.
Speaking after Saturday’s win in Las Vegas, “The Mexican Monster” said in one breath that he “doesn’t care” about the Mexican superstar, and Benavidez said in his next breath that he wants Canelo to “come shut me up.” Make no mistake, Benavidez DOES care about Canelo, and he wants the fight badly. But does Canelo want it?
Prior to Saturday, it seemed clear Canelo, who calls his own shots, wasn’t interested in a fight with Benavidez; not unless he would be paid a whopping $200 million for the fight, that is. Now, might Canelo have seen some things he liked in Benavidez’ at times reasonably tough winning performance? Benavidez got hit quite a bit and Gvozdyk was able to take the younger man’s power. Benavidez may well be a different animal down at 168, but at the same time, Canelo, if/when he studies the Benavidez-Gvozdyk fight, may see ways in which he feels he could beat the man who has been calling him out and taunting him for so long.
Benavidez, though the Canelo fight is the big one, has other options: he could stay at 175 and target the winner of the upcoming (postponed but now back on) 175 unification fight between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, or he could look to fight for a vacant belt at 168 should Canelo vacate one.
But the fight the fans want, still, and maybe for as long as both men are fighting, is Canelo Vs. Benavidez. Benavidez has a hand injury to let heal, while he suffered a cut eye in the fight on Saturday. But Benavidez will be back soon, he says he can still make 168 pounds “easy,” and he wants Canelo to prove he’s the best by shutting him up. But who will Canelo choose to fight next, Benavidez or someone else?
“I definitely want to invoke my mandatory right (at 168 pounds against Canelo, for the WBC title),” Benavidez said after his win over Gvozdyk. “It’s something that for the past three years is rightfully mine, so like I said, this was the perfect opportunity for me to come up and win another belt (an interim belt), but I can still make 168 easy so we’re looking to come back down to 168.”
It will prove very interesting seeing just who Benavidez fights next time out.
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