Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez is widely regarded as a modern-day great whose four-weight world championship streak has seen in with some extremely talented fighters.
One man, however, feels he has been avoided. Many fans and pundits agree. Canelo’s former promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, once said that fighting David Benavidez was important for the undisputed super-middleweight champion’s legacy.
Benavidez is now closer than ever to getting the fight he has been chasing. As WBC mandatory challenger, the 26-year-old has been promised he will get his shot in the first half of 2024.
Despite that ruling, Benavidez has been disheartened recently by rumours that Canelo is in talks for a fight with Jaime Munguia in May of next year.
Speaking to FightHype, the undefeated former champion said that his goal was regaining the titles and there are more fights for him at 168, but it’s only a matter of time before a move up to 175 is ‘inevitable.’
“My end goal is to get all four belts at this weight class before I leave, that’s what I want to accomplish. If I can’t do that, then I’ll go get an interim title with Morrell.”
“If I don’t get the Canelo fight then it’s inevitable, I have to go up to 175. Before that, we’re trying to stay at the weight class as long as we can, get the good fights, and then if we can’t get Canelo then we’ll go up.”
Benavidez says he would be ‘much more comfortable’ at light-heavyweight with the likes of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev – a division Canelo previously won a world title from Sergey Kovalev but failed on his second attempt against Bivol.
“It’s the same as every camp. You have to measure food, everything, water intake. It gets to a point where it becomes a science how to get down in weight. It’s not impossible, you can do it, but I would feel much more comfortable making 175.”
Benavidez looks to keep his mandatory spot against Andrade on November 25.