David Benavidez will be fighting on June 22nd for the WBC interim light heavyweight title against Oleksandr Gvozyk on the undercard of Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin on Amazon Video PPV.
It’s going to be strange to see Benavidez fighting on an undercard rather than headlining, but he’s not as big of a star as Tank Davis yet. PBC wants to package these two fighters on the same card, which will make a good impression on Amazon and ensure the success of the event. Tank vs. Martin alone isn’t a big enough fight for it to bring in massive PPV numbers.
Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) says his goal is to become undisputed championship at light heavyweight by beating the winner of the June 1st fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. He still wants to fight Canelo Alvarez for his four belts, but he thinks he’s getting ready to retire.
That’s what the “150-200 million” remark by Canelo was all about. If Benavidez doesn’t get that fight, he says he’ll be fine financially because he’s already made a lot of money during his 11-year career.
Fighting on June 22nd on Tank card
“In my next fight, I’m moving up a weight class. It’s going to be big. Me and Gervonta Davis are fighting on a card together. It’s probably going to be the biggest fight of the year,” said David Benavidez to the FreshandFit YouTube channel about his June 22nd shared card with Gervonta Davis on Amazon Prime PPV.
We’ll see if Benavidez can hang with someone more or less his own size in Gvozdyk, who has power and could give him problems if he can land his shots. If Benavidez fails against Gvozydyk, he’ll likely return to 168 and resume fighting smaller guys.
“I’m fighting for another belt [WBC interim light heavyweight title], and that’s going to put me at the #1 spot to fight the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol. When I was growing up, my dream wasn’t, ‘Oh, I’m going to fight Canelo.’ My dream was to be the best of my generation,” said Benavidez.
“He knows I’m a dog”
“He knows I’m a dog. He sees it in my eyes,” said Benavidez when asked if Canelo is afraid of his size and reach and that’s why he’s not fighting him. “I want greatness. They talk about money. I don’t care about money. I’ve been making a lot of money since I was young. It’s not that.”
It’s the size of Benavidez likely is what bothers Canelo because he’s big as WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, and Alvarez lost badly to him at 175.
If Benavidez were the same size as Canelo, he’d have no problems fighting him, but he doesn’t want to be outweighed by 25 lbs and giving up seven inches in height and reach. It’s like asking Benavidez to face 6’5″ Anthony Joshua. He’d be giving away a lot of size to Joshua, and even with his talent, it would be too much size for Benavidez to deal with.
“It’s becoming undisputed super middleweight champion of the world, and I’m working on that,” said Benavidez.”I’ve barely started my training camp, but I’ve already been training for two months. Nobody does that. I’m here, I’m focused, and I know what I want and I know what I want to accomplish.
“Canelo is getting ready to retire”
“In the world of boxing, that’s all they’re talking about right now [Benavidez fighting Canelo]. When I heard that number, ‘150-200 million.’ Not even Mayweather and Pacquiao got that. What that sounds like to me is he’s [Canelo] getting ready for retirement.
“Canelo is getting ready to retire and he knows it. I’m not coming to play, and I’m not laying down for nobody,” said Benavidez.