David Benavidez is now WBC number one contender at both super-middle and light-heavyweight.
After fighting his way to earn – but so far not fight – a mandatory shot against Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez, Benavidez got tired of waiting for a shot at the undisputed champion and instead moved up one division.
His debut fight was a unanimous decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas this month. Speaking on Pro Box TV, Hall of Fame fighter Tim Bradley explained why he wasn’t impressed by the light-heavyweight debut.
“Yeah, he didn’t look good. I thought honestly he’s looking mediocre. It’s almost like he took a page out of Canelo’s book and he’s throwing everything with power. Every single shot with power. He’s leaping in with left hooks. He’s been hanging out with Roy Jones Jr.
You go up in weight, you have these extra pounds and you think to yourself I don’t have to work as hard as I did in the past, but what happens is you lose your conditioning along the way. When he’s fighting at 168, cause he’s big at 168, he has to run, condition, train extremely hard to make that weight.
His power didn’t carry up with him at all at 175. He looked tired. He looked gassed from the sixth round, his mouth wide open.”
Bradley then advised the 27-year-old to stick to super-middleweight and continue to pursue Canelo, because he doesn’t see any way he beats the two top dogs – namely Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol – at 175.
“He’s best suited at [168]. I think he should take the path of the Canelo. Fight Canelo, become that number one contender, stay at 168 pounds. Forget about 175 because you ain’t beating those guys at the top. Nu-uh. Not after this performance.”
With the win, Benavidez is first in line for the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol in October, but post-fight he announced the his immediate plan was indeed to drop back down and pursue Canelo.
