Benavidez Has One Condition For A Canelo Fight

David Benavidez has laid down the conditions for a Canelo Alvarez fight, saying it must take place at 175 pounds. 

The pair were linked with a fight when Benavidez was the WBC Interim Super Middleweight Champion. Despite holding the mandatory position for over two years, Benavidez never got the title shot. The WBC did not make the order, while Canelo was not stripped of the belt. Benavidez eventually moved up to 175 pounds, where he would go on to become the WBC Champion.

Benavidez secured the WBC interim belt at 175, which later became the full belt once Dmitry Bivol vacated. Canelo has previously boxed at 175 pounds, defeating Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO belt. Canelo also came out second best against Bivol at 175, showing Canelo has no issues fighting at 175. Benavidez has now ruled out a move back down to 168, as any Canelo fight must be at light heavyweight.

“To be honest with you I don’t think a fight with me and Canelo would ever happen at 168, I don’t wanna go back to 168. I’m good at 175, and I’m world champion here, so if he wants to come up to fight at 175 I’m all good with that but right now I can’t live in this fantasy world,” Benavidez said

Benavidez Reacts

Elsewhere, Benavidez isn’t convinced on the idea of Terence Crawford jumping up two weight divisions to face Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight title on September 13th. Crawford moves up from 154 pounds following his win over Israil Madrimov in his last fight. While Crawford came out with a win, he was hit more than usual, with many believing similar shots from Canelo would cause extensive damage. Benavidez believes the size difference could be too much for Crawford, as weight classes exist for a reason.

“I don’t like it only because Terence Crawford is coming up three weight classes. I don’t want to say that he [Crawford] doesn’t have the ability to hurt him. He obviously does. He’s really technically sound, and he’s a great fighter. Sometimes, three weight classes is different. It’s like me if I go up and I try to fight Anthony Joshua or ‘Gypsy King’ [Tyson Fury at heavyweight]. I’d believe I could win if I don’t get hit, but if I get hit, you got to worry about that. We’ll see. You never want to count Terence Crawford out, but there’s weight classes for a reason,” Benavidez said