David Benavidez is moving up.
But not necessarily on.
Benavidez intends to move up the scale to light heavyweight, one division above the Canelo Alvarez-dominated super-middle division, for an interim 175-pound title against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
“That’s the plan,’’ Benavidez father-and-trainer Jose Benavidez told 15 Rounds Thursday, confirming a social media announcement from World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman. “We came to an agreement yesterday (Wednesday).’’
Jose Benavidez did not eliminate the Canelo possibility. Speculation continues to swirl about Canelo’s projected May 4 date, the first of two this year. He’s also expected to fight on September 16. Benavidez continues to be a possibility for either date.
David Benavidez, who has been calling out Canelo for a couple of years, continues to be mentioned on a speculative list that spins faster than a dizzy roulette wheel. One day, it’s Jermall Charlo. The next day, Jaime Munguia. It could stop on Terence Crawford any day.
As of Thursday, it was still not clear what Canelo would do. Last week, the talk was that he’d fight Charlo. This week, it’s Munguia, the emerging Mexican who fought his way into the Canelo sweepstakes with a four-knockdown stoppage of John Ryder in Phoenix last month.
In a news conference a couple of weeks ago, Canelo teased that he’d be fighting an American in May. Charlo is American. So is Benavidez. Munguia is not. In any language, it’s chaos.
Translation: Who knows?
The ongoing uncertainty forces Benavidez, 27, to re-think his career, which has been defined by his pursuit of Canelo. He’d rather fight than wait. In 2024, that’s what he’ll do in an attempt to re-make himself on his own terms instead of Canelo’s. When and where that begins, however, is still uncertain.
June is one possibility. June 15 has been mentioned. But so is May, Jose Benavidez said.
“if that other guy (Canelo) can’t decide on somebody for May, maybe we’ll move on to that date against Gvozdyk,’’ Jose Sr. told 15 Rounds.
Whenever-wherever-whoever, it’s clear that Benavidez plans to fight at 175 pounds sometime over the next 10 months. His promoter/manager Sampson Lewkowicz confirmed as much Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.
“Boxing is unpredictable and can change multiple times in a day,’’ Lewkowicz posted. “Yes” PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) in coordination with Team Benavidez. …a guarantee of ($) 55 Million was offered to Team Canelo that would exceed 60 M by adding Azteca Sports PPV and more or We are moving to 175 Lbs.’’
That move has been inevitable since Benavidez lost the WBC title on the scale in August 2020. Then 23, he failed to make the 168-pound limit before blowing out Roamer Alexis Angulo. He hasn’t missed weight since, but it was clear then that light-heavyweight was just a matter of time.
Benavidez’ unfolding career is already notable. He’s a former, two-time super-middleweight champion, yet still unbeaten. He lost the WBC’s 168-pound belt for the first time because of a positive test for cocaine.
Now, he has a chance to become a current two-time, mandatory challenger. He’s already Canelo’s mandatory. However, it’s not clear what that means, especially in a bid to fight Canelo, the pay-per-view star who gets what he wants.
The WBC officially awarded Benavidez its super-middleweight mandatory in November, but the ruling body has yet to do anything to enforce it.
A victory over Gvozdyk would include an interim light-heavyweight title. Presumably, that would also include another mandatory, although Sulaiman’s post said only that the WBC would sanction the fight for the interim belt.
No mandatory mentioned for what could – should — be a shot at the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol winner of a fight for the undisputed 175-pound title on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
NOTES: After Thursday’s news, Jose Benavidez left for Miami to train his son. David Benavidez, who began his boxing career in hometown Phoenix, recently bought a condo in Miami, his dad said. The Benavidez family, including older brother Jose Jr., have been living in Seattle. … Jose Benavidez Jr., a former junior welterweight and welterweight, is coming off a loss to middleweight Jermall Charlo, who blew off a contracted catch weight. Jose Jr. will continue to fight, his dad said.
