By Sean Jones: Jose Benavidez Sr. says he wants to set up a fight between his son David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) and Demetrius Andrade after he faces David Lemieux in May in a WBC 168-lb title eliminator.
Jose Sr. says the number that his promoter Sampson Lewkowicz recently mentioned on wanting for a Benavidez vs. Andrade fight is wrong.
They’re willing to negotiate the fight to make it happen because it’s one that will further their careers.
With Canelo Alvarez showing no desire to fight Benavidez, it’s important that he face the biggest names possible like Andrade, Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo,
Benavidez Sr. wants Demetrius Andrade next
“We want to fight Caleb Plant, Charlo, Boo Boo Andrade. All these guys are dangerous fighters, but they don’t want to get the fight [with Benavidez],” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fighthype on the top 168-pounders Benavidez wants to battle.
“They don’t want to step in there with David, so it makes it a little bit complicated, but that makes David more dangerous because he’s getting more experience. When they do fight David, he’s going to be more stronger.
“That conversation happened real quick because there were conversations between PBC and Canelo to fight David, and they came out of nowhere and Sampson [Lewkowichz] said what he was thinking,” said Benavidez Sr. on a question of Benavidez fighting Demetrius Andrade.
“I think we have to sit down and negotiate that fight [Benavidez vs. Andrade], and the fighters have to get what is fair for each other. You can’t just ask for ten million dollars. That’s a little bit insane.
“It’s not the right number. If he wants ten, how much does Boo Boo want? So, I think that’s a little bit big number. We’re willing to negotiate. I had the opportunity to speak to Eddie Hearn, and I want to make sure that’s possible so I can talk to our promoters to make that fight [with Andrade and Benavidez] happen.
“He [Hearn] was very open and positive about it. He said, ‘Yeah, definitely, let’s make that fight happen.’ Eddie Hearn doesn’t care if that fight is on Showtime, so that’s great. There’s a big possibility that fight can happen.
“Right now, we’re focused on David Lemieux. If everything goes well, that’s the fight [Andrade] we want to do next. Eddie Hearn is willing to do that, so a lot of respect for that.
“I think both of them [Andrade and Benavidez] need that. Boo Boo needs that fight, we need that fight. Nobody wants to fight Boo Boo, so that would be a big statement for David.
“I think David could even stop him, so why not make that fight happen? Boo Boo is a fighter that nobody wants to fight. We want to fight him, so let’s make it happen.
“We’re not asking for what Sampson said, so let’s sit down and we want him [Andrade] to be comfortable. We just want to get that fight. It should be an easy fight to make.
“Hopefully, we get that fight and we beat him. We can show the world the fight that the people want to see. We’re not afraid to fight him and put our undefeated record on the line,” said Benavidez Sr.
Jose Sr: Canelo EASILY beats Bivol & Golovkin
“I think Canelo is going to win these fights against Bivol and GGG and now they brought John Ryder. I kind of heard how the contract is,” Benavidez Sr. said.
Jose Sr. is right about Canelo likely beating WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and 40-year-old Gennady Golovkin, but it will be far from easy.
Canelo’s recent wins over Caleb Plant and Billy Joe Saunders weren’t easy for him. Golovkin and Bivol are far better fighters than those two, and they might beat Canelo.
Of course, they won’t get a decision against Canelo for obvious reasons, but they’ll have a chance of knocking him out by targeting his midsection.
“So to me, that means they [Canelo] doesn’t want to fight David. They have a lot of respect, and I’m happy about that because we’re doing something good. If David was super easy, they’d take that fight like Yildirim. They’d take that fight right away.
“Bivol hasn’t been that active, and hasn’t looked that good, so I see Canelo winning that fight no problem,” Benavidez Sr. continued. “GGG isn’t the same anymore.
“I wish he would come stronger like before, but that’s another fight that I see Canelo winning those two fights no problem. Congratulations to him for doing that deal [with Matchroom Boxing]. Those are easier fights than fighting Charlo or David [Benavidez].
“I think people are going to want to see that, either Charlo or David. We’re not waiting for Canelo. We just have to continue our path to be ready for what comes in the future.
“Once they see Canelo beat these guys [Bivol and Golovkin] easy, they’ll put more pressure on him to fight David. There’s a lot of pressure [on Canelo already], and I like it.
“To be honest with you, after he beats these guys, who is he going to fight? What other excuses is he going to make? Either he gets out of boxing or he goes to another division or he’s going to have to face David because the people are demanding that.
“In order for him to make history and feel good about himself, he has to fight David. It’s going to be a big fight because the people are demanding that fight,” Benavidez Sr. said.
Canelo telling Benavidez “what to do”
Its confusing that Canelo wants Benavidez and Jermall Charlo to fight, as those are both guys that PBC offered him $100 million to fight in 2022.
Why would Canelo want them to fight unless he’s hoping that one of them, possibly Benavidez, loses so he won’t have to risk facing him?
“That’s funny that he wants to manage fighters, he wants to tell people what to do,” Benavidez Sr. said in reacting to Canelo saying that David should fight Jermall Charlo, and then he’ll face the winner.
“That’s ridiculous, that’s disrespectful. How are you going to say, ‘Why don’t you guys fight and do this and do that, and then I’ll fight the winner.’ We’re not waiting for him to tell us who to fight.
“We already said we want to fight these guys. We want to fight the Charlos, we want to fight the Andrades, we want to fight the Caleb Plants. We’re not waiting for him to tell us that. He’s saying he’ll fight the winner. Okay, let’s do a contract.
“There’s no contract, there’s no nothing,” Benavidez Sr. said about Canelo not offering a guarantee that he would fight the winner of David Benavidez vs. Charlo by making a contract. “Nah [Canelo not serious], he’s just making fun of the fans, and that’s disrespectful for people that believe that.
“If he’s really serious about it, ‘Okay, these guys are going to fight and we’ll have a contract. We’ll sit down and talk and fight them.’ Right now, I just think he’s making fun of everybody,” said Jose Sr.
Lemieux next for Benavidez in May
It’s a disappointing match-up seeing #1 WBC Benavidez facing #2 David Lemieux in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator on May 14th, 15th, or 21st to become the mandatory for champion Canelo Alvarez.
There are far better contenders in the 168-lb division than 33-year-old Lemieux, but the World Boxing Council gave the popular Canadian a high ranking with their organization following his recent wins over fringe contenders.
Benavidez probably won’t get a chance to challenge Canelo even if he becomes his mandatory challenger. As Benavidez Sr says, Canelo isn’t going to fight David anytime soon.
“I wish we were fighting somebody strong, somebody young, somebody more dangerous, but he’s an ex-champion, a hard-hitting guy,” said Benavidez Sr. on David’s next opponent David Lemieux.
“He’s a dangerous fighter, he hits hard and he comes forward. He [Lemieux] wants to make a statement and beat David so he can get the big fights. Imagine if he [Lemieux] beats David. Canelo will get him right away.
“If we beat him what do we get? Nah, Canelo doesn’t want to fight David,” said Benavidez Sr. when asked if Canelo would fight David if he beats Lemieux on May 14th.
“David is super young at 25 and getting mentioned a lot. Everybody wants to see the fight between David and Canelo,” said Benavidez Sr.
