The WBC has granted unbeaten American boxer David Benavidez a two-week extension to decide in which weight class to retain his status as official challenger. The talented “Bandera Roja” currently holds the Interim title of the José Sulaiman federation in both the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions and must now choose which division to focus his future on.
The current unified super middleweight world champion is the renowned Mexican boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, a fighter Benavidez has repeatedly attacked verbally, accusing him of cowardice for not granting him a title shot. For his part, Canelo has changed his reasons multiple times for not being interested in a fight against the 27-year-old born in Phoenix. Initially, the reason provided to the press was the supposed inconsistency of Benavidez’s professional record, which was later supplemented by the accusation that Benavidez enters the ring with a bodyweight too high for the category limit due to massive rehydration. More recently, the Mexican superstar has cited Benavidez’s frequent disrespectful comments as another reason for his refusal, as Benavidez does not miss an opportunity to provoke him.
Should Benavidez decide to stay in the light heavyweight division, where he debuted two weeks ago with a wide points victory over experienced Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Gvozdyk, his “target” would become the winner of the upcoming Russian derby between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, who will compete for all four world titles in October.
On one hand, a challenge against Canelo would seemingly offer Bandera Roja greater chances of success due to the Mexican’s smaller stature and the fact that Canelo appears to have lost something compared to his peak. On the other hand, continuing his recently started path at the 175-pound limit would gain more favor from Turki Alalshikh, the man chosen by the Saudi government to manage state funds dedicated to sports events. According to some sources, Saudi Arabia would prefer to organize a fight between Saul Alvarez and Terence Crawford, despite the considerable physical disparity between the two, and use Benavidez as the next challenger for the unified light heavyweight throne. Within fifteen days, we will discover which path the formidable American puncher will choose to take.