David Benavidez To Stay At 175

With news of a deal being finalized between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) for September 14 in Las Vegas posted this morning by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, all that was left to hear from was the interim WBC champion David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs). Sources have told FightsATW that Benavidez has decided to drop the mandatory status at super middleweight and remain the mandatory challenger for the winner between Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) and Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) later this year.

Benavidez recently tested the waters at light heavyweight, which wasn’t easy as he earned a unanimous decision over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June. Benavidez would later ask the WBC to give him a two-week extension on his decision of whether he wanted to continue to be the mandatory at super middleweight or remain at light heavyweight. Upon the expiration of the two weeks, Benavidez asked for another extension in hopes that a deal could be made for the Canelo fight, but once Alvarez made it clear that he was not going to face him, Benavidez and his team then decided it was best to pursue the titles at light heavyweight.