_10.jpg)
Super middleweight contender David Benavidez isn’t troubled by rumors that Canelo Alvarez is supposedly considering a fight with Jermall Charlo. If nothing else, they only encourage him.
It was recently reported by ESPN that Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, received an offer from Premier Boxing Champions to defend his titles against Charlo, a middleweight beltholder, sometime in the spring on pay-per-view, with a potential second fight to involve Benavidez in the fall. ESPN also reported that Alvarez received a two-fight deal from Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom to face WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol in the first fight and IBF middleweight titlist Gennadiy Golovkin in the second. Hearn’s offer would require Alvarez to fight on the streaming app DAZN, for which Hearn is its biggest boxing content provider.
Phoenix’s Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) thinks Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) will pick Houston’s Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), since that fight would take place on the pay-per-view platform, a service that DAZN has not ever offered in the past, although it has hinted at the possibility of doing so. Alvarez’s last fight, his title-unifying stoppage win over Caleb Plant, was a PBC event that aired on Showtime Pay-Per-View.
Given that both Benavidez and Charlo are both under the PBC banner, Benavidez feels his chances of fighting Alvarez will increase if Charlo gets the nod first.
“I feel like we’re in good position, too, because I’m on PBC, obviously,” Benavidez told FightHype.com “I think Canelo is loving that pay-per-view money. It’s way more money with pay-per-view so I feel like we’re in good position. It is what it is.
“Hopefully I get my opportunity after.”
Benavidez, who held the WBC 168-pound title twice but lost them on account of extracurricular issues, said he does not know why his name was not initially brought up as a potential candidate for Alvarez. Benavidez has been critical of the narrative – one fostered by Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso – that he is not deserving of a shot against the Mexican superstar.
“That’s a big question,” Benavidez said. I’m not really a hundred percent sure. I guess the only factor at play is that Charlo was a champion at 160 so they’re probably gonna give him the opportunity first.”
Benavidez added, “It’s a great fight for the fans, for the sport.”
“I think the fight with Charlo is going to be the toughest fight for Canelo that he’s had in a while,” Benavidez continued. “I also wouldn’t be surprised if Canelo knocks Charlo out.”
Benavidez, who is reportedly set to face Quebec’s David Lemieux in his next bout, views his current position as win-win.
“I’m still in a good position,” Benavidez said. “I want a fight with both of those guys. If Canelo wins I get a fight with Canleo. If Charlo wins, I get a fight with Charlo, so those are two fights that I want anyway.”