David Benavidez has been calling out Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez for some years now.
The former two-time super middleweight champion fought his way into the mandatory position for Alvarez, who has held all four belts in the division since 2021.
Despite it being considered by most to be one of the best fights in the sport of boxing, as well as the standout biggest challenge for Canelo at the weight, the four-belt champion hasn’t been keen to entertain talks.
Tired of waiting, Benavidez recently made the move up to light-heavyweight, beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk over the distance to become WBC Interim Champion.
The sanctioning body then requested the 27-year-old make a decision as to which weight class he would like to remain mandatory challenger, the choices being force a fight against Canelo – although many fans will doubt that would happen easily – or face the winner of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Despite recently stating his intention to keep chasing Canelo, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has now been informed that Benavidez will campaign at 175 going forward.
“The WBC has just received a letter from Sampson Lewkowicz, exclusive promoter of David Benavidez, confirming that David Benavidez will continue his career as a light-heavyweight. He is confirmed as WBC 175 interim champion and is the mandatory contender for the winner Beterbiev vs Bivol.”
The WBC has just received a letter from @SampsonBoxing exclusive promoter of @Benavidez300 confirming that David Benavidez will continue his career as Lightheavyweight . He is confirmed as WBC 175 interim champion and is the mandatory contender for the winner Beterbiev vs Bivol
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) July 23, 2024
Bivol (WBC, IBF and WBO) and Beterbiev (WBA) are due to face off to crown an undisputed champion in the division – the first since Roy Jones Jr – on October 12 after an initial postponement due to an injury to Beterbiev.
Because of mandatory challengers, Benavidez won’t necessarily get the chance to fight for all four belts – as witnessed in the heavyweight division recently when Oleksandr Usyk quickly had to vacate one – and may even see the champion retire rather than fight him, particularly should 39-year-old Beterbiev win.
Fan response to the WBC’s news was mixed, but some notable comments said that the sanctioning body had ‘shielded’ Canelo from the threat of Benavidez. Others claimed the undisputed champion had successfully ‘ducked’ the younger man,
One commenter doubted the chances of Benavidez against the bigger champions at 175 and another said he was the one ‘ducking’ Canelo, which won’t be a popular opinion given he’s spent the last year at least calling for nothing else.
Canelo is expected to announced a defence against Puerto Rico’s Edgar Berlanga in the coming days.
