“I think it will happen.” David Benavidez feels he will finally face Canelo Alvarez

Written by: Sean Crose

Everyone wanted to see David Benavidez fight Canelo Alvarez. Everyone, that is, except Canelo. At least for now. While it's a tall order to accuse Canelo of cheating on an impressive opponent, there's no doubt that the future hall of famer has made it clear that he's not looking forward to facing Benavidez anytime soon. Credit Benavidez, however, for his determination to move forward. “To be honest with you, I did everything in my power to make that fight happen,” CBS he quotes Benavidez as saying. “I beat the fighters who told me I couldn't beat them. I was number 1 three years ago but my hands were tied.”

In fact, Benavidez wants it to be known that he is not the one responsible for the Canelo fight that will not be successful. “The reason why this fight doesn't happen is that Canelo doesn't want it to happen,” said Benavidez, “because he knows very well that if he faces me, I'll take all his titles home.” As things stand, Canelo is the undefeated super middleweight world champion, while Benavidez moves up in weight to face Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the interim WBC light heavyweight title this weekend in Las Vegas.

Still, Benavidez feels the Canelo fight will eventually go down. “I think it will happen,” he said, “but I don't know when. I think this fight is too big to leave on the table like that. Everyone wants to see this fight and I want to be in this fight. I want to show people that I am the best in the world but I don't know when that will happen.”

Not that Benavidez isn't always focused on the moment. “I tried to combine titles but I didn't get that chance (at super middleweight) and 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 strong in whatever weight class I choose to fight in.”

The truth is that Benavidez may be right about Canelo's fight finally being successful. Canelo can be many things, but he is not known for avoiding dangerous opposition. There is a very good – if not impossible – chance that this man will sign on to fight Benavidez in the future. Canelo is a man who has the luxury of choosing who, when, and where he fights.