David Benavidez moving on from Canelo Alvarez after champ’s avoidance: I did everything possible to make it

LAS VEGAS – When it comes to his plan to take over boxing and become one of its biggest stars and pound-for-pound best fighters, David Benavidez believes it will happen with or without the help of undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo. Álvarez.

Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), a former two-time 168-pound champion who has never lost his titles in the ring, was Alvarez’s No. managed to convince the 33-year-old Mexican icon, nor the sanctioning bodies who refuse to strip them of their titles, to put on one of the biggest fights the sport could produce.

Instead, the 27-year-old “Mexican Monster,” a nickname given to Benavidez by Mike Tyson, will take control of his career on Saturday when he moves up to light heavyweight to challenge former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1 , 16 KOs) for the WBC interim title at 175 pounds.

“To be honest with you, I did everything in my power to make this fight happen,” Benavidez told CBS Sports on Thursday’s media day. “I beat the fighters they told me I couldn’t beat. I was the number 1 candidate for the last three years, but my hands were tied.

“I did everything in my power to make this happen. The only reason this fight isn’t happening is because Canelo doesn’t want it to happen because he knows very well that when he fights me, I’m going to take all his titles. marry me.”

One thing you won’t hear, however, is Benavidez going out of his way to criticize Alvarez for avoiding him, which many fans and critics did. He has many matters of his own to attend to.

Should Benavidez win, he has already been named by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority and responsible for the kingdom’s massive boxing budget, as the fighter who will face the next winner of October’s undisputed light heavyweight showdown. against the undefeated champion Artur. Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs).

“I can’t keep thinking about what [Alvarez] is doing and what his strategy is,” Benavidez said. “I did my job and I did my job perfectly. I think this will happen, but I don’t know when. I think it’s too big a fight to leave on the table like that. Everyone wants to see this fight and I want to be in this fight too. I want to show people that I’m the best in the world, but I don’t know when that will happen.

“Since I was a kid, I never had that thought in my head, like, ‘Oh, I want to face Canelo.’ My main goal is to become the best in whatever weight class I’m in and I was trying to do that at 168 [pounds]. I tried to unify the titles but I didn’t have that opportunity so I reached 175. Now this fight will put me in a position to fight for all the titles at 175 and I will continue to be a dominant force in whatever weight class I choose to fight in.”

Benavidez also confirmed a rumor released that day by boxing trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards about how Benavidez had not only trained players like Bivol, Beterbiev and Gvodzyk in the past, but also had great success.

“I put it into all of them and they know it too,” Benavidez said. “But I’m not showing any disrespect as they are all great fighters. I know I have to be 100 percent prepared for every one of them because all of these guys are beasts.”