By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez says he will go down to 160 to chase a fight against WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
The two-time WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) wants to knockout Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) in 2021 and then use the victory as a launching pad for a mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Charlo has been adamant about his desire to stay at 160, and he said recently that if Benavidez and Canelo want to fight him, they have to come down in weight.
Benavidez is ready to call Charlo’s bluff by moving down to 160 after taking care of former IBF super middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui (31-4, 26 KOs) in their match on August 28th.
If Benavidez moves back down to 160, Charlo may still choose to avoid fighting him. Unless the World Boxing Council makes Benavidez mandatory to Charlo, he could be ignored by the reluctant champion.
Charlo is the polar opposite of his risk-taking twin brother Jermell with his avoidance of fighting high-caliber opposition. For Charlo, a risky fight is a match against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Benavidez wants Jermall Charlo in 2021
“This year, it would be Charlo,” said Benavidez to Little Giant Boxing when asked what his dream fight would be in 2021. “That’s a fight I want.
“Because Canelo, I know he’s got his own thing. I believe in myself; I bet on myself; I double down on myself. I’d get Charlo, beat him, and then afterward, the fight between me and Canelo would be that much bigger.
“Can you imagine if I get past Charlo and stop him, me and Canelo would be huge. It would be big. I know what I bring to the table. I know what I’m capable of.
“That’s a dream setup for me. They’re talking about 160; I’ll probably try and go down to 160. I want my people to believe in me. I’m here to stay. I’ll fight whoever and whenever.
“This was my third week of sparring,” said Benavidez. “I did nine rounds with three different dudes. I feel like in my last training camp; I got to a new level. I just keep trying to push myself. I think it’s experience. I’ve been going so many rounds in my last couple of fights,” said Benavidez.
Before Benavidez moves down to 160, he should be certain that Charlo will give him a title shot because this could be a waste of time. Of course, the World Boxing Council could help Benavidez if they make him the immediate mandatory to Charlo.
Benavidez is currently ranked #1 with the WBC at 168. However, if they make him the #1 contender at 160, they would need to uproot Jaime Munguia from his position as the top contender with the WBC.
Uzcategui next up on August 28th
“Hopefully, everything is good with this fight [against Jose Uzcategui], and then I get another fight in December. I got to take care of this fight first, and then we’ll see.
“I’m excited not only because he’s [Uzcategui] a former world champion, and he’s a tough guy, but because he brings fireworks to the table,” said Benavidez. “It’s going to be a great fight for the fans; it’s going to be a war. It’s going to be in my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, so I’m excited.
“Whoever, I feel like I’ve been calling out a lot of names. I’m going to see what happens. I’m going to do my job, and then we’ll see what happens. Of course, I want the top guys. I feel like I deserve them. I’m going to keep proving everybody right until they can’t deny me a fight.
“I feel like he [Eddy Reynoso] likes those because the last couple of fights, Canelo, it hasn’t really been hard for him.
“He’s had a walk in the park. So I feel like everybody knows it’s going to be a hard fight between me and Canelo. It’s going to be a great fight, and I can’t wait.
“I hope so; I’ve got a lot of fans everywhere,” Benavidez said when asked if he wants the Canelo fight at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. “I’ve got a lot of people supporting me. A lot of my Mexican crowd and a lot of Cubans, Ecuadorians, Puerto Ricans,” Benavidez said.
Uzcategui, 30, shouldn’t be a problem for Benavidez to take care of, as this is a guy that Caleb Plant recently beat.
Losing to Plant showed how limited Uzcategui, and he’ll be lucky if he can go the full 12 rounds against Benavidez.
The overall prize that Benavidez is seeking is a title shot against Canelo Alvarez, but the Mexican star is busy trying to unify the 168-lb division this year.
If Canelo’s promoters at Matchroom Boxing can negotiate the fight with Plant (21-0 12 KOs), those two will fight on September 11th or 18th.
Canelo could move up to 175 to challenge champions Artur Beterbiev or Dimitry Bivol if he doesn’t get the Plant fight.
Benavidez believes he’ll KO Charlo
“It was good, I thought he was going to stop Juan Montiel, but that shows there are flaws in his game too,” said Benavidez about WBC middleweight champion Jermall Carlo.
“He’s talking about everybody else has flaws, but he has flaws of his own. He got a bad cut on his eye. He’s got his own eyes to worry about too.
“I feel like I would [stop Jermall Charlo]. It would be a great fight. I’m not saying it would be easy, but I know I can stop Charlo. Everybody else, I go for the knockout I for the kill against everybody. As the years go by, I’m getting stronger, and I’m excited for what comes in the future,” said Benavidez.
Jermall looked absolutely terrible in his last fight against Juan Macias Montiel last month. Montiel hurt Charlo numerous times with body shots and cut him with his heavy shots.
Charlo’s stock dropped big-time with that performance, and not surprisingly, he’s Canelo, the opportunist eager to fight him. With that said, Canelo isn’t willing to move down to 160 for the Charlo fight the way that Benavidez is.
Charlo needs to take the fight with Benavidez to redeem his status in the eyes of the boxing world.