David Benavidez sat on the ring apron and wrapped his hands before a training session in late February at BOXR Gym in downtown Miami. The prospect of a fight with Canelo Alvarez, the man he has long pursued, was once again slipping away from Benavidez.
He wasn’t going to sulk. Confident that he had exhausted all avenues to land the marquee match with boxing’s top star, Benavidez did what he always does: he went back to work.
The 27-year-old shadowboxed, hit the pads and trained, although no fights were planned at the time.
Alvarez then fought Jaime Munguia on Cinco de Mayo weekend instead of the super middleweight summit meeting the public demanded with Benavidez.
With his hopes of securing a showdown with Alvarez extinguished for now, Benavidez made a cautious choice. Rather than wait for Alvarez and the lucrative payday he brings – the path many boxers take in today’s landscape – Benavidez moved on and moved up a weight class. He will make his light heavyweight debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Saturday’s Gervonta Davis-Frank Martin co-feature at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video PPV).
“I did everything in my power to make the fight happen with Canelo,” Benavidez told ESPN on Wednesday. “…I’m not going to wait for any other fighter to establish my career and really try to become the best in whatever division I’m in. …I’m coming in at 175 (pounds) and I’m looking to take over.”
There was palpable disappointment in the boxing world when Alvarez chose to fight Munguia in May rather than Benavidez, a more deserving title challenger who appeared to present far more danger. That’s when Benavidez decided to move up to light heavyweight. After all, what was left to accomplish at 168 pounds outside of a fight with Alvarez perpetually out of reach?
“You lined my pockets, you made Munguia a lot of money, all because you are afraid of David Benavidez,” Golden Boy promoter and Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De said Monday La Hoya, on social networks in a message to Álvarez.
Already, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO) has virtually gutted the 168-pound division. His breakthrough 2023 campaign included comprehensive defeats against former champions Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade, the two most accomplished opponents of Benavidez’s career.
Surely, the two career-best performances – along with his growing popularity – would lead Benavidez to one of the best possible matchups in boxing, many thought. Only Alvarez showed no interest. And as the sport’s top attraction, there’s no doubt that Alvarez takes the lead.
“I think he’s afraid he’ll lose and I’ll take over,” Benavidez said. “…I don’t really think he’s afraid of me. I think he doesn’t want me to pass the torch. …I think he doesn’t like me and doesn’t want to not… another Mexican to shine.”
Benavidez did not arrest Plant, but he beat and bloodied him during the second half of their March 2023 encounter. Andrade also received a brutal beating; he was floored in Round 4 and retired to his stool after Round 6 of the November fight. Andrade, a two-division champion, was undefeated after 32 fights.
Benavidez said Wednesday afternoon that he only has 3 pounds left to lose before Friday’s weigh-in. At 6-foot-2, the 168-pound weight cut had become taxing on Benavidez’s body after more than 10 years at that weight.
“I feel like I’m going to maintain more strength, more power and more endurance,” he said.
It’s a scary proposition for Benavidez’s future opponents at light heavyweight, starting with Ukrainian Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs). Nicknamed “The Mexican Monster” by Mike Tyson, Benavidez earned this nickname thanks to his swarming style that leads to pulverizing knockouts.
Gvozdyk is also an accomplished fighter, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist who won the lineal light heavyweight championship with an 11th-round knockout of Adonis Stevenson in 2018.
“I just feel like (Alvarez) doesn’t want to fight me because he knows I’m definitely going to beat him. … He always beats everyone convincingly, but it’ll just be a different story when he’ll get in the ring with me.”
David Benavidez
After a successful defense, Gvozdyk was stopped in the 10th round by Artur Beterbiev. He was hospitalized for several days and then retired. Gvozdyk returned in February 2023 to end a 40-month layoff. He has three wins against low-level opponents and enters Saturday’s fight as a +450 underdog, according to ESPN BET.
“I take every opponent seriously because if I prepare for a fight with them, they know they have to be 100 percent to prepare me,” Benavidez said. “I’m preparing for the best Oleksandr Gvozdyk possible. I’ve watched all his films. I know his strengths. I know his weaknesses. We came up with a good game plan, so now it’s just time to execute that game plan. match. Saturday.”
In addition to all the film study, Benavidez estimated that he has fought Gvozdyk two or three times, or eight to 12 rounds, in the past. “I feel like I’ve dominated every practice session with him, and that’s when I was younger,” he said. “I didn’t have as much experience as I have now. And now I’m at my peak, my strength as a man, and I have a lot of experience with these big fights.”
If Benavidez can get past Gvozdyk as expected, he will have much more attractive options at 175 pounds. Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, told ESPN he would like to face Benavidez with the winner of the Oct. 12 undisputed light heavyweight championship fight between Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
It’s a fight that Benavidez is also interested in and is one of the most mouth-watering matchups in boxing. Benavidez gives Bivol the advantage over Beterbiev “because he is a little fresher”. Beterbiev turned 39 in January and withdrew from his scheduled June 1 date after undergoing knee surgery. “But it’s a 50-50 fight, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Beterbiev wins.”
Benavidez said he wouldn’t be surprised if he ultimately gets the call to face Alvarez in his dream fight. Alvarez has competed twice at 175 pounds – his last fight at light heavyweight was a decision loss to Bivol in May 2022 – and reigns as undisputed champion at 168 pounds.
Although he is now a light heavyweight, Benavidez said he would return to super middleweight for the showdown with Alvarez.
“As long as we put him in the ring, that’s the only thing I want,” Benavidez said. “Just make the fight happen. … It’s just too important a fight to leave on the table. It will definitely happen. I just don’t know when it will happen.”
And with Beterbiev and Bivol busy with each other this fall, Benavidez will need a dance partner for the second half of the year. The logical choice is David Morrell, the undefeated Cuban who lobbied for a shot at Benavidez while fighting under the PBC banner. Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) sits one spot behind Benavidez in ESPN’s 168-pound rankings, but will follow his potential rival up to 175 pounds with an Aug. 3 fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic.
“That’s the only other fight I have lined up,” Benavidez said of Morrell. “…I think David Morrell is a strong fighter, don’t take anything away from him, but I would definitely beat him, and that would definitely prepare me very well for the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol.”
A fight against Bivol or Beterbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight championship is far from a consolation prize for Benavidez. If he beats Morrell and then wins all four titles at 175 pounds, he will undoubtedly land on ESPN’s pound-for-pound list. (Bivol is No. 5, Beterbiev is No. 6.)
Benavidez surely could not be denied by Alvarez; the pressure might be too much for even Canelo to ignore. But if the all-time boxing great still isn’t persuaded to fight Benavidez by the end of 2025, he might never fight him. “(Benavidez) doesn’t add anything for me,” Alvarez said in March. “He just brings 25 extra pounds on fight night. That’s it. … If a promoter I work with offers $150 million to $200 million, then I’ll fight tomorrow. That’s the only reason I I will fight with him.
If no one can satisfy Alvarez’s large request, Benavidez can rest easy. After all, he wasted no time sitting on the sidelines, picking easy opponents in hopes of receiving that elusive call-up while protecting his unbeaten record.
“I just feel like (Alvarez) doesn’t want to fight me because he knows I’m definitely going to beat him,” he said. “…He’s obviously still beating everyone convincingly, but it’ll be a different story when he gets in the ring with me. And once we get that fight done, I’ll definitely prove to the world why I’m the best in the world.”
