‘If not for Canelo I’m not going down to 168’: Benavidez says only one fight brings him back to super middleweight
David Benavidez will chart his own path while still holding out some hope for a Canelo Alvarez fight.
As David Benavidez prepares to take on Oleksandr Gvozdyk for an interim light heavyweight title fight he talks to media members about moving on with his business after years of being passed over by Canelo, and how that will still be the only fight he returns to the 168-pound division for.
Benavidez on his ambition to challenge Canelo for his super middleweight world titles
“It’s my right to campaign those titles. The WBC, I just think it’s not fair they’re only giving me 10 days to make the decision if I’m going to stay at 175 or 168. I mean, I’ve been there for three years, I haven’t gotten the opportunity for three years, but we’ll make the decision after the fight. But definitely, if we can make (the Canelo fight) happen that’s a fight we all want to see.”
On Edgar Berlanga vying for a shot a Canelo next
“I don’t want to say too much about that. I don’t really got an opinion. Berlanga, he feels like he’s earned it but the fans know who really earned that fight and I’ll leave it up to the fans. Ask the fans what fight they want to see and they’ll tell you.”
On David Morrell saying he’s ducking him
“I’m not ducking nobody. Now that we’re at ‘75, I see he just went up to 175 so potentially we could have that fight. The only fight I’m staying around for at 168 is Canelo. I’m done at 168, if it’s not for Canelo I’m not going down to 168. I’ve been there for 10 years, I was already there at the pinnacle to try to fight for all the belts and they didn’t give me the opportunity so now we’re moving up to 175.
“But that’s a very lucrative fight, me and David Morrell. He’s the best in PBC so let’s make it happen.”