It had been hoped that Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez might face this year and though it is not up next, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed his plans for the fight.
This coming together of two Mexican fighters would be huge with Canelo the proven and long-established multi-division champion and Benavidez the younger fighter who has a track record of throwing more punches than anyone else at this level in his fights.
His most recent win was a knockout of Demetrius Andrade and now speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, Sulaiman was asked whether he can make the fight happen.
“Well, we are not promoters, we are part of the eco-system and we’re allowing the promoters to do their job.
“Benavidez apparently he is going to do a title defence of his interim title and Canelo will make a defence of his titles but that fight is one everybody wants to see.
“It’s boxing at the highest level, it’s a fight that’s building to be an unbelievably huge event and I’m confident it will happen.”
He was then asked about why Canelo has not had a WBC mandatory called for some time.
“When Canelo set his sight on being undisputed in the super-middleweight division. He was in agreement that would happen.
“That took a whole year then he had permission to go over the weight, a fight against Bivol, then he defeated Golovkin, then he sold out the stadium in Mexico, he fought John Ryder, he was a WBO mandatory, then fought Charlo last fight so we anticipated that and sanctioned Benavidez for an interim title, so that takes care of the mandatory situation.
“Of course there is a lot of hype on this topic and we understand it. We’re handling it and try to make the best fights happen, and we’re in the process.”
He was then asked how long until the fight is called as Canelo recently spoke of how long left he has in the sport.
“Benavidez becomes mandatory this coming March.”
That means the mouth-watering fight could well take place in September, the second time in the year when Canelo usually fights.