By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez says he wants to move up to 175 to take on IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev after getting a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Beterbiev’s power will be a problem for Benavidez, as he’s not taken on anyone with that kind of strength before.
The power that Beterbiev generates on his shots will be trouble for Benavidez at close range, and he’s not exactly the hardest guy to hit cleanly.
Considering that Canelo has already gone on record saying that he won’t fight Mexican fighters, we could be waiting forever for Benavidez to move up to 175 to challenge Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) for his three belts.
It helps Benavidez to pull a Canelo move by waiting until Beterbiev is old & past it before he moves up in weight to challenge him for his belts.
Beterbiev will be turning 38 in January, and if Benavidez continues to wait for a fight that will likely never happen against Canelo, he’ll catch him when he’d in his 40s.
Benavidez needs to wisen up and make the move now while Beterbiev holds the three belts. If he waits for Dmitry Bivol to get his hands on the titles, that will be a bad style match-up for him because he throws combinations and is adept at picking off shots.
If Benavidez can’t get a fight against Caleb Plant & Jermall Charlo, then he really needs to move up to 175 because Canelo is never going to fight him.
The only other fighters that are worth fighting at 168 are David Morrell and Demetrius Andrade, but those aren’t big enough names for Benavidez to stay in the division.
It’s already got to be difficult for Benavidez to make the 168-lb limit, given that he’s clearly a light heavyweight with more size than Beterbiev and Bivol.
Why put himself through such hell if he’s not going to get a fight with Canelo, Plant, or Charlo at 168? Benavidez should already see the writing on the wall that those three fighters want nothing to do with him.
Moving up to 175 now will enable Benavidez to face Beterbiev before he reaches old age.
If Benavidez wants to receive credit for beating Beterbiev, he should move up in 2023 after his next fight in January against Jose Uzcategui.
“That’s definitely a fight that I would like to make happen,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype about his interest in challenging IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
“It’s hard to go to another promotional company and skip the line to get a world title fight. That’s not really how it happens. I feel like if I keep doing my thing and blowing up and getting more fans.
“I feel like after I get my fight with Canelo, every other fight can happen. Jab, jab, body shots, and defense,” said Benavidez when asked how he would fight Beterbiev.
“I mean, with those bigger guys, especially. He loads up with shots a little more, so you could kind of see. There’s this little move before they let the hook go. It’s just that much time to dodge the shot.
“I just feel that everyone that he’s fought, I’m different than,” continued Benavidez about the unbeaten Beterbiev. “The fight with Joe Smith, I feel like Smith kind of panicked after getting hit with that overhand right. He was just looking for wide [shots].
“He wasn’t even setting nothing up with no jabs, no body shots. So the way that these people have been fighting him is completely wrong. My style is completely different. I touch with the jab a little bit more and open up with the body shots.
“I feel like that’s definitely going to help me in that fight. Like I said, with these types of fighters, you just got to go through it. In your head, you got to tell yourself that you’re going to take some shots. That’s how it’s going to happen,” said Benavidez.
