Fantasy to Futility: Benavidez forced to move on from dream fight with Canelo
By Norm Frauenheim –
It’s a fight that was called a fantasy more than three years ago
Quit dreaming, Sampson Lewkowicz told media and fans about David Benavidez-versus-Canelo Alvarez after Benavidez blew out David Lemieux at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ in May 2021.
Fans never did — never could — quit fantasizing. Even Lewkowicz, Benavidez’ primary promoter, began to change his mind over the next couple of years amid Benavidez’ surging momentum in victories over Caleb Plant and then Demetrius Andrade. There was just too much talk, too much interest. Benavidez-Canelo was at the forefront of the fans’ collective imagination. It was the fight everybody wanted to see.
Dream on.
Lewkowicz was right on.
Fantasy turned into futility this week with news that Benavidez has relinquished his spot as the so-called mandatory challenger to Canelo’s World Boxing Council piece to the undisputed super-middleweight title. Benavidez finally decided to stay at light-heavy and retain challenger’s rights to the 175-pound title at stake in the Dmitry Bivol-Artur Beterbiev fight scheduled for October 12.
The news was confirmed Wednesday in a social media post from WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman:
“The WBC has just received a letter from @SampsonBoxing exclusive promoter of Benavidez300confirming that David Benavidez will continue his career as Lightheavyweight. He is confirmed as WBC 175 interim champion and is the mandatory contender for the winner Beterbiev vs Bivol.”
It’s not a surprise. It was never Benavidez’ choice, anyway. Not really. Throughout all of the talking and rumored offers, it was clear that Canelo would not fight him. Why? There’s a laundry list of reasons. Pick one, pick them all.
Reason One: Benavidez would have been too big at opening bell. The Phoenix fighter, who some say will one day be a heavyweight, was accused of being weight bully. Reason Two: Canelo, 34-years-old on July 18, did not want to deal with the younger man’s energy, especially in the later rounds. Benavidez is 27. Reason Three: Canelo was angered at non-stop trash talk from Benavidez and his father, Jose Benavidez Sr.. Because of the talk, Canelo decided he’d never do business with Benavidez.
Benavidez actually looked beatable in his last bout, a unanimous decision over former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his 175-pound debut on June 15. Benavidez’ power just wasn’t there, perhaps because of a hand injury he suffered in training.
His trademark energy also wasn’t there in the end. He appeared to be fatigued, also perhaps because of the hand injury and a cut above an eye, also sustained in training. It’s not clear how much those injuries impacted Benavidez camp in Miami.
Still, he looked vulnerable. Yet, Canelo still wasn’tinterested. Instead, Canelo took a fight against Edgar Berlanga, a so-called mandatory challenger for a different acronym. Canelo-Berlanga was reportedly a done deal Thursday, set for Sept. 14 in Las Vegas.
The Berlanga fight is another example of Canelo’s power. He does what he wants, regardless of acronym rules or network priorities. Fair or not, that’s a prerogative that comes with his pay-per-view power. Sometimes, however, it’s not exactly clear what he wants. To wit: It’s still not certain Canelo wants to fight Terence. Crawford, who jumps from welterweight to junior middle next-week Saturday (Aug. 3) against Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles. But it is abundantly clear Canelo does not want Benavidez.
The WBC is currently the target of widespread criticism for not stripping Canelo. As far as anybody knows, the ruling body didn’t even threaten to strip him. Instead, it looks as if it foresaw an issue and decided to sidestep it by offering Benavidez a couple of options. In an unusual move a few months ago, the WBC offered him the light-heavy option.
To wit: Beat Gvozdyk and you win an interim title and the so-called mandatory-challenger’s spot that comes with it. It was as if the WBC knew that there was no way Canelo would fight Benavidez. Still, it was unlikely that the Mexico City-based organization would strip its title from Mexico’s reigning face of boxing. More than that, it’s unlikely that the WBC or any other acronym can afford to say no to the sanctioning fees paid by Canelo, who recently appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine.
Remember, Canelo gets what he wants.
And what he doesn’t.
For the WBC, it was a looming dilemma, political and financial. In the end, the WBC created the light-heavyweight option.
Finally, the choice was made for him. Canelo made it, choosing Berlanga and proving that money is boxing’s only mandatory.
Through out several weeks, Benavidez thought about it. A year ago, he said he was prepared to move on, move beyond Canelo. He had been chasing Canelo in a single-minded, almost desperate attempt to define himself and his career.
Yet, when faced with the decision, he wouldn’t give up the Canelo possibility or potential purse. Immediately after the victory over Gvozdyk, he said he would go back to 168 pounds and pursue the so-called mandatory versus Canelo. Still, there was no final decision. There was only one deadline after another.