David Benavidez’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, insists that he can return to 168 after he begins fighting at 175.
Benavidez’s immediate plans are to fight for the WBC interim light heavyweight title against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th and then fight the winner of the undisputed 175-lb championship between champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Canelo: Too Scared or Too Smart?
Canelo isn’t interested in fighting Benavidez because the money isn’t there. He says the only thing he has to offer him is an extra 25 lbs, meaning that he would rehydrate to cruiserweight if they fought at super middleweight. It’s not that Canelo is afraid of fighting bigger guys.
Canelo would likely jump at the chance of fighting Benavidez if the two were near the same weight, but the size difference between them is HUGE.
Benavidez has offered to fight with a rehydration clause, but that wouldn’t stop him from quickly ballooning up in weight after the secondary weigh-in on the day of the fight. Rehydration clauses only work with fighters who aren’t aware of the ways of getting around them.
Who Else is Left at 168?
Lewkowicz says there’s no one for Benavidez to fight at 168 at the moment other than Canelo Alvarez, but he feels he’ll “never” fight David. That’s the only guy at Super Middleweight that Lewkowicz and Benavidez are interested in fighting.
Lewkowciz says a fight between Benavidez and the unbeaten Cuban David Morrell Jr. needs to “marinate.’ Morrell is a risky fight for Benavidez, and way more dangerous than the smaller, older Canelo.
Morrell is the same size as Benavidez but with more power and better technical skills from his years of fighting on the Cuban amateur team.
Future at 168 Lbs Hinges on Canelo Fight
“I can tell you he can make 168 because his last two fights, he was 167 and change,” said promoter Sampson Lewkowicz to Fighthype when asked if David Benavidez will be able to return to 168 after he moves up to 175.
“There’s no one to fight at 168 at this moment. So, he decided to [fight for the WBC] interim at 175 and get the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol. That is the thought. However, if he [Benavidez] decides to go to [fight] Canelo, I’m pretty sure [WBC president] Mauricio [Sulaiman] will strip Canelo because that’s it.
“Canelo will never fight him. If somebody is asking for $150 million or $200 million, at least we know what he wants. But most likely if I offer him 200 [million], he’ll ask for 250. You can bring the horse to the water, but you can’t force it.
“He doesn’t care about his legacy. He cares about not losing the fight. I believe Canelo will in the fight, but Munguia has more chance [of winning] than anybody thinks,” said Lewkowicz about this Saturday’s fight between Canelo and Jaime Munguia.
“Sometimes you need to marinate the fight, and that is the only reason we didn’t close the deal to fight him because it’s not the right moment,” said Lewkowicz when asked why won’t he match Benavidez against David Morrell.
