David Benavidez could face the winner of the June 1st undisputed light heavyweight championship between IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA belt-holder Artur Beterbiev in December, with the help of Saudi promoter Turki Alalshikh.
His Excellency Alalshikh reportedly feels that it’s more realistic for Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) to fight the Bivol vs. Beterbiev winner in December than to put together a fight with Canelo Alvarez, whose asking price for a fight against ‘The Mexican Monster’ is $150-200 million.
U.S. boxing fans will be tremendously interested in seeing Benavidez fight Bivol or Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs). A match between Benavidez and Beterbiev would be especially interesting to see how Davis deals with the power of the unbeaten, unified light heavyweight champion.
Can Benavidez withstand Beterbiev’s punching power, or will he be like the 20 past opponents who have fallen apart against the unbeaten unified 175-lb champion?
Rematch Clause a Potential Hurdle
One obstacle that Alalshikh will need to overcome to realize his vision is the rematch clause for the Bivol-Beterbiev fight. However, Alalshikh’s plan would be for the 27-year-old Benavidez to fight the winner of the Bivol vs. Beterbiev fight in between their rematch.
The downside of the Saudi promoter’s plan is that there won’t be much interest in a Bivol-Beterbiev rematch if Benavidez fights the winner of their June 1st fight. It would almost be pointless for a second clash to occur between Beterbiev and Bivol if Benavidez dethrones the winner of that match.
A Change of Course for Benavidez
Benavidez is ambitious and wants to become a two-division world champion now that his hopes of fighting Canelo have been dashed due to the Mexican star’s huge price tag of 150-200 million.
The Saudis don’t appear to be willing to indulge Canelo by giving him the huge purse he’s asking for, which isn’t surprising because it’s a mountain of money he’s asking for to fight Benavidez.
Given Canelo’s exorbitant asking price, it would be a nightmare for the Saudis to attempt to put a fight together between the two.
It would be a bad move for the Saudis to placate Canelo, as that could start an avalanche of fighters demanding huge dough for their fights.