David Benavidez appears to have made a u-turn on a potential showdown with pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford.
Rumours began to circulate about a potential showdown between Benavidez and Crawford taking place, just weeks after ‘Bud’ etched his name into the boxing history books once again.
The 38-year-old from Omaha put on an impressive display to defeat Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez via unanimous decision on September 13 to capture the undisputed super-middleweight championship at a sold out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Last year in an interview with Mr Organik, Benavidez admitted that he would be open to a showdown with Crawford, setting his sights on getting revenge for his brother Jose, who was beaten by ‘Bud’ back in 2018.
“I would love to get [revenge], but I just don’t think he would come up.
I would love to fight [Terence] Crawford, or even spar Crawford.”
However, since Crawford’s victory over Canelo, ‘The Monster’ has now revealed in a conversation with Inside The Ring that he actually has ‘no interest’ in moving back down a division for a potential clash with his countryman.
“To be honest, let Terence Crawford live. That’s his weight class. I lost interest in 168 a long, long time ago. And I know that we could get offered a lot of money to go down but I’m more comfortable at 175. I’m chasing Beterbiev, Bivol, Zurdo Ramirez at cruiserweight. So, I’ve been at 168 but I have no interest in going back down.”
Benavidez is set to make the first defence of his WBC light-heavyweight title later this year, as he gears up to face Britain’s Anthony Yarde in Riyadh on Saturday November 22.
As for Crawford, the 38-year-old is set to take a period of rest following his historic victory over Canelo, with reports suggesting that he could drop down to middleweight in an attempt to become a six-weight world champion.