By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez feels that he’s just as deserving as Jermall Charlo and Caleb Plant to get a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
The former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) points out that former IBF 168-lb champion Plant only fought one notable guy in Jose Uzcategui.
After beating Uzcategui to capture his IBF 168-lb title in 2020, Plant defended it successfully against three scrubs before being given a massive payday rumored to be in the neighborhood of $10-12 million to fight the belt-hungry Canelo last November.
In the case of 14-year-old professional Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), he’s only fought four good but not great opponents during his long career, yet he’s on the verge of being hand-picked by Canelo for a life-changing payday on May 7th.
Jermall Charlo’s best career opponents:
- Cornelius Bundrage
- Austin Trout
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams
Benavidez says Charlo only fought four notable guys
“Even like my beef with [Jermall] Charlo. He’s been there for so long and can say what he wants. Still, honestly, he’s [ONLY] fought Derevyanchenko and J-Rock [Julian Williams],” said David Benavidez to Fighthype in pointing out that Jermall has only fought a small handful of notable fighters during his career.
“Okay, like four fighters,” said Benavidez when told that Charlo also fought Cornelius Bundradge and Austin Trout. “I’ve been watching that guy since I was 13-years-old.
“They think they’re more deserving than they are, and they think they’re better than they are. The person I do respect a lot is Canelo. He’s beat a lot of good fighters.
“That’s like when other people like Charlo say they’re the best. The same thing they say about me, they’ve got to say about him. When is everybody talking so much s*** about me when everybody else is the same,” said Benavidez.
Jermall Charlo has become popular without fighting quality guys because he creates noise before his fights at his press conference. Also, with Charlo being one of Showtime’s house fighters that they routinely televise, it’s made a fanbase artificially.
If Showtime didn’t routinely televise Charlo’s fights every time he competes, he likely wouldn’t be popular. Out of sight, out of mind.
Given the lackluster middle-of-the-road opposition that Charlo has during his 14-year professional career, he’s not fought the big names to become a star. But with his fights being televised on Showtime, it’s helped him create a following.
It’s the same thing with Caleb Plant. He hasn’t fought anyone spectacular during his career, but he’s gained a following thanks to his televised fights on Showtime.
Who did Plant fight to deserve Canelo fight?
‘Caleb Plant, who did he fight?” said Benavidez in questioning what talented fighters did Plant beat to get his massive payday fight against Canelo.
“He fought Uzcategui and almost got killed in the last three rounds. Charlo and all these guys. How am I not deserving of a fight when these guys are the same as me?
“Yeah, these fighters are a little bit closer to being made. Plant already got in there [against Canelo]. He already got the check. So what’s left is for me to fight Canelo. I think these fights are closer to being made than further away. That’s what I’m saying. I’m in a good position.
“He was already a champion at 168,” said Benavidez about Canelo when asked if he moved up in weight to take advantage of him being stripped of his WBC title after failing to make weight for his title defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo in August 2020.
“I don’t want to sit here like a hater and say, ‘Oh, he’s [Canelo] scared of me. That’s the only reason he came up after I lost my belt.’ He saw the opportunity to get a belt and came up and got it.
“I would have done the same s***,” said Benavidez sounding cautious about ripping Canelo for what looked like opportunistic behavior on his part.
Caleb Plant only fought one notable fighter in Jose Uzcategui before getting the fight with Canelo.
The ONLY reasons Plant got the fight with Canelo is because he had the IBF 168-lb title that he wanted and because he was an easy mark.
That is to say; Plant lacked the chin, stamina, and the power to make Canelo avoid him like he’s doing with Benavidez.
Benavidez wants Demetrius Andrade fight
“I would like to fight [Demetrius] Andrade too,” said Benavidez. “That’s a good fighter.
“Just for me out of myself to give me the experience and be the fighter that I want to be and have the legacy that I want to have. That’s not an easy fight. I would push for it. I’m not scared of nobody,” said Benavidez.
It might be a long, long time before Benavidez can get a fight against Demetrius Andrade, even though he is moving up in weight for his next fight.
Andrade’s management is positioning him to get fight against Canelo, which is one of the reasons he’s moving up to 168.
It’s not reasonable to assume that they’re going to want to steer the 33-year-old ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade in the direction of a dangerous fight against the much younger, bigger, and stronger 25-year-old Benavidez.
The risk-reward isn’t worth it for them, so, likely, we’ll NEVER see Benavidez get a chance to fight Andrade.
The only way that fight happens is if Benavidez achieves superstardom in the next three or four years before Andrade is over-the-hill and ready for retirement.
Due to Benavidez’s inability to get the fight he needs against Canelo to become the next superstar, he’s probably going to continue to be known by only the hardcore boxing fans. He will never leap mega-stardom.
All the big stars like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Canelo needed that one big name to transform them into superstars in the U.S.
Benavidez is lacking that one name to take his career to the next level, and Canelo doesn’t seem interested in helping him the way he was supported by the aging stars Mayweather, Shane Mosley, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Miguel Cotto.
Benavidez needs to show some flexibility by moving up to 175 and cruiserweight to make some noise by fighting the top guys in those weight classes because the 168-lb division is dead. I know Canelo is there, but he’s going to fight him.