By Adam Baskin: David Benavidez plans on staying at 168 for three more fights, hoping to get a lucrative payday title shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
The huge 6’2″ Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs), who some believe should have moved up to light heavyweight long ago, has been stubbornly chasing a fight with Canelo for the last five years and has gotten nowhere.
It’s not in Canelo’s best interest to fight a melted-down light heavyweight at 168. As big as the 26-year-old Benavidez, he should be fighting at cruiserweight, not 175, and definitely not 168.
Canelo has a long queue of fighters waiting for a fight against him, and it’s predictable that he will continue to ignore Benavidez. In Canelo’s next four fights, he’s likely to take them in this order:
1. Jermell Charlo
2. Jermall Charlo
3. Edgar Berlanga
He will be out of luck unless Benavidez chooses to hang around the 168-lb division until 2025. It’s fair to say that’ll be physically impossible for Benavidez to stay at 168 for another two years because he’s already looking terribly emaciated getting down to that weight.
Moreover, in Benavidez’s last fight against Caleb Plant, he showed signs of weight drain, looking weak and struggling against a fighter that he would have easily destroyed when he was at full strength three years earlier.
Benavidez’s problem is that he’s done much to blaze his own trail to make a name for himself, and he’s been one of the many contenders hounding Canelo for a handout.
It’s questionable whether Benandiez will be able to make 168 for his next three fights because he’s gotten so big that when he drains down to make weight, he looks emaciated and sickly.
It’s pretty clear that Benavidez has gotten to the point where he will need to move up to 175, whether he likes it or not, becue he’s too huge to keep draining down to 168 without putting his health at risk.
“Probably just three fights [at 168], or close to then. I want to make these fights happen; I worked my whole f****g career to get to that moment to fight for those belts. It’s almost there, so I can’t go until I get that fight,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype about his intention to stay at super middleweight for three more fights until he gets a title shot against Canelo Alvarez
If Benavidez moves up to 175, he should have no problems getting a title shot against IBF, WBC & WBO champion Artur Beterbiev or WBA champ Dmitry Bivol. Obviously, making 175 won’t be a piece of cake for Benavidez either because he’s so huge, so he might need to move up to cruiserweight.