Former WBC super middleweight champion David ‘El Bandera Roja’ Benavidez 23-0 (20) fears he will be frozen out of a world title fight.
The 24-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona is set to face Ronald Ellis 18-1-2 (12) in a world title eliminator at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut on March 13.
The winner of that bout was expected to face the winner of the fight between Anthony Dirrell 33-2-2 (24) and Kyrone Davis 15-2-1 (6) in Los Angeles last weekend – a bout that ended in a draw – to determine the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 55-1-2 (37).
Alvarez walked through WBA mandatory contender Avni Yildirim 21-3 (12) in three rounds in Miami on Saturday night, clearly the way for a three-belt unification bout against Billy Joe Saunders 30-0 (14) on May 8.
If successful, the 30-year-old Mexican superstar will face IBF titleholder Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant 21-0 (12) in September, leaving Benavidez on the outside looking in.
“That was my understanding, but since the fight was a draw, I’m kind of confused right now. Who steps forward after Dirrell and Davis?” Benavidez said to Premier Boxing Champions.
“Right now, my job is to beat whoever they put in front of me. I really don’t care. To be honest, Canelo, if I win the mandatory like I am, I feel like Canelo isn’t going to give me the opportunity anyways.
“I think he’s probably going to vacate the [WBC] title and do nothing like that. I mean, I would love to fight Canelo and show the world that I’m the best.
“Honestly, I don’t think he’s [Canelo] going to take the fight. We were never in talks before when I had the WBC title. We were never in talks to make the fight happen.
“He reached out to every other champion. I feel like when he beats Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant, I feel like he’s going to say his work in the super middleweight division is done.
“So it doesn’t matter to me if it’s Canelo, Caleb Plant, [Jermall] Charlo, or Ronald Ellis. My job is to beat whoever, and I am going to beat whoever it is they put in front of me.”
So is Alvarez avoiding Benavidez or simply chasing bigger names?
“I don’t know. He never mentions my name. He talks about everybody else but me,” Benavidez said.
“Some people say I’m desperate for the fight. I’m not desperate for no money. I am desperate to show the world that I am the best. I’m willing to fight whoever.
“I’ll fight [Edgar] Berlanga, I’ll fight Charlo, I’ll fight Caleb Plant, and I’ll fight Canelo. I just want to show the world that I’m the best. I want the opportunity to show the world that I’m the best.
“There’s a lot of similarities between me and Canelo. Body shots, uppercuts. The thing about me, I have a wicked variety of punches. I can put my punches together just as good as he can, and I have an amazing jab.
“You seen when [Sergei] Kovalev fought Canelo, Kovalev was hitting him with a slow, stiff jab, and Canelo was unable to get in. I can jab; I can throw a hard jab all night.
“So I feel like I give him the hardest fight of anybody, and I feel like his team knows that too. And I feel like that’s the reason why they’re kind of avoiding me.
“If he does vacate his belt, he’s going to show everybody how afraid he is of me. People can say that I’m desperate and Canelo is too experienced and all of that.
“Until he gets in the ring and shows me, I feel like I’m the best in the world, and I’ll beat that guy.”
