Floyd Mayweather wants David Benavidez to keep pushing in his bid to become the next face of boxing after Canelo Alvarez.
Benavidez, the number one contender to Canelo for what seems an eternity, is waiting for the green light to face the Mexican superstar. Canelo resisted the urge to fulfill his WBC duties in May and will defend his undisputed super middleweight crown against Jaime Munguia instead.
Due to an ongoing agreement with Premier Boxing Champions, Benavidez has an outside chance of facing Canelo in September. However, by his own admission, he won’t be waiting for Canelo to pursue him.
Speaking to ESPN before Canelo briefly explored alternative options to working with PBC, Benavidez aired his frustration.
“His actions speak a lot of words,” Benavidez told ESPN on the subject. “This was the biggest fight. Even though this fight for me and him was on the table, it just speaks volumes. I’m not going to be waiting on Canelo. After I fight Canelo, my career doesn’t end.”
He added: “It’s frustrating, but it gives me a bad name at the end of the day, too. This fight is not happening because Canelo doesn’t want it to happen, plain and simple.
“It would be an amazing event, but I don’t need Canelo. The only reason people fight Canelo is for a payday. I don’t care about money. I care about winning titles and giving the fans the best fights possible.”
Floyd Mayweather advises David Benavidez
Mayweather, who fought Canelo in 2013 and allowed the multi-weight champion to follow in his footsteps – as Oscar De La Hoya did to him in 2007, gave ‘The Mexican Monster” some advice.
“If David Benavidez keeps beating fighter after fighter, and champion after champion, eventually he’ll be the man,” Mayweather told FightHype. “And then everybody will want to fight him.
“Just like me, you have to wait your turn. David Benavidez is a helluva fighter. All David has to do is keep going out there and beating guys, staying focused, and then he’ll be the guy.”
Instead of remaining in a stagnant division where all the belts are tied up, Benavidez was moved to another with similar problems. However, the WBC believes offering Benavidez another interim shot, this time at light heavyweight, will open more doors.
Benavidez will fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk this summer with the promise of a clash against the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol. But only if Canelo doesn’t step up by September.
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