David Benavidez says he wants to remove one of Canelo Alvarez’s options from him in 2024 by going to Al Haymon to ask him to arrange a fight between him and Jermall Charlo for next March or May.
Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) wants to prevent Canelo from having any wiggle room to avoid fighting him next year in September by using Jermall as an opponent.
Fighting Jermall (33-0, 22 KOs) would obviously limit Canelo’s options to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship for next year, but that’s just one guy.
If Canelo is sick of Benavidez’s pressure, crying & complaining about him, he can fight literally anyone to teach him and other fighters a lesson, that he won’t be forced to give a payday to them.
Canelo will reportedly defend against Jaime Munguia next May on Cinco De Mayo in 2024 in his second fight of his three-fight deal with PBC.
Obviously, PBC would likely prefer that Canelo defend against Benavidez, as that would be an in-house fight that would make them a ton of money. However, Canelo can face Jermall, and he’s a PBC fighter, and that would be massive interest from fans because he’s a better talent and a much bigger puncher than his twin brother, Jermell, who fought poorly against the Mexican star last September.
Benavidez wants to take Jermall Charlo option away from Canelo
“I would like to be back in the ring in March or May, but I’m still going to be in the gym training,” said David Benavidez to ProBox TV about when he’ll fight again.
“What if he [Canelo Alvarez] beats [Jaime] Munguia and then fights Jermall Charlo?” said Paulie Malignaggi. “What do you do then?”
“I’d be pissed off,” said Benavidez, who seems to have a sense of entitlement when it comes to Canelo owing him a fight in 2024. “Maybe, we could probably avoid that is we make a fight with Charlo.”
Let’s get one thing straight: Jermall isn’t going to waste time with David Benavidez is he believes he’s got a shot at fighting Canelo in September next year.
All Canelo has to do is let Haymon know he wants Jermall, and Benavidez will be helpless to do anything other than complain, like he’s been doing.
If you’re Canelo, he should fight Jermall because he won’t be fighting a guy who is, in effect, a cruiserweight on the night of the contest. The 26-year-old Benavidez is basically a cruiserweight, but he’s still young enough to melt down to fight at 168.
What Benavidez should do in March or May is fight David Morrell or Dmitry Bivol if he can get either one of those guys. If those fights can’t be made, Benavidez should look for the next best option against Diego Pacheco, Anthony Yarde, or Jai Opetaia.
“That’s another option on its own. Charlo said he wanted to fight me. I think that would be a good experience for me to take into the Canelo fight,” said Benavidez. “I’m going to take to Al Haymon to see if we can probably get that Charlo fight.”
Haymon can always try to make the fight between Benavidez & Jermall, but again, if Canelo says he wants Charlo, there’s nothing the ‘Mexican Monster’ can do about it. He’d have to move on and take a risky fight with Morrell, Bivol, or Opetaia.
“Like you said, I don’t think Canelo is going to fight me next. Maybe in September [2024]. So maybe if we get Charlo in there in the beginning of next year, and then we get Canelo in September, I think that would be a great move on our part,” said Benavidez.
It sounds like Benavidez has a sense of entitlement when it comes to Canelo, and thinks that the fight is owed to him and in the bag. It’s not, and there’s a very a good chance that Benavidez will be crying crocodile tears next September when Canelo fights Jermall, Bivol or Morrell instead of him.
What Benavidez should be doing is taking the risky fights that he’s failed to do during his long ten-year professional career. He could have fought Morrell last Saturday but chose the 35-year-old Demetrius Andrade.
“Then you do it [fight Jermall] a week before Canelo’s fight [in May 2024]; that way, the whole fight week, everybody is asking Canelo about you?’ said Malignaggi.
“Yeah, that would really p*** him off,” said Benavidez.
