As fight fans are aware, David Benavidez has been calling and calling for a big fight with superstar Canelo Alvarez for some time. Now, with Mauricio Sulaiman revealing how the unbeaten Benavidez has been installed as the WBC mandatory challenger at 168 pounds, the fight with Canelo could be one big step closer.
“David Benavidez,” Sulaiman said to Gambling.com on the subject of who will be next for Canelo should he come through okay against Jermell Charlo on September 30. “He is the interim champion. He is the mandatory contender for the WBC. Benavidez’s term for the mandatory status is in March 2024. It will absolutely be a great fight.”
Canelo Vs. Benavidez will indeed be a fight for fans to look forward to – but will it happen? Just because Benavidez is the WBC mandatory, it doesn’t necessarily mean Canelo will take the fight. Canelo is a star, and he calls his own shots. If Canelo doesn’t want to fight Benavidez, well, he won’t fight him. Canelo could simply vacate the WBC belt; he could campaign in another weight class.
But for the sake of giving the fans what they want, Canelo will hopefully agree to defend his super middleweight belts against Benavidez. It seems there is no way this one would not be a great, great action fight. 26-year-old Benavidez is 27-0(23), and he is coming off an impressive and exciting win over Caleb Plant, the March fight seeing “The Mexican Monster” retain his WBC interim title for the second time.
Benavidez might be at his peak right about now, while there are whispers that say 33-year-old Canelo has lost a step or two and that he is not as hungry or as determined as he once was. Would Benavidez topple Canelo if this fight happened sometime in the first quarter of next year? Let’s see how Canelo looks against the smaller but faster Charlo before we get excited about who his next fight might be against.
Canelo is currently 59-2-2(39), and he may not have that many fights left in him.