PHOENIX – The move up to light heavyweight – and now cruiserweight – was not a matter of physical convenience for David Benavidez.
It was always about autonomy.
“That’s a good way to put it,” Benavidez told BoxingScene while back in the Greater Phoenix area as part of the grand opening of Visionary Boxing Gym in Peoria, Arizona. “Moving up put me in the driver’s seat of my career. Now I’m not just waiting on one guy.
“It feels good that I no longer have to wait on anyone to make fights.”
The unbeaten two-division titlist is keen to add two more chips to his collection as he is set to challenge unified 200lbs titleholder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, 48-1 (30 KOs). The first-ever all-Mexican cruiserweight title fight is set to take place on May 2 in Las Vegas.
Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs) – the current WBC 175lbs titleholder – announced the matchup in the ring immediately after his one-sided, seventh-round stoppage of Anthony Yarde last November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The win was his third at light heavyweight and first full title defense, after he previously outpointed David Morrell Jnr and Oleksandr Gvozdyk with the sanctioning body’s interim title at stake.
Although naturally big, and with room to fill up at cruiserweight, Benavidez didn’t necessarily have to flee the 168lbs division. He twice held the WBC title at the weight and left as its interim belt holder. However, he remained without a clear shot at then-undisputed champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 63-3-2 (39 KOs), who flat-out refused to fight him, despite growing public demand.
Even now, as Benavidez is set to embark on his third weight division, Alvarez’s name continues to pop up during media events. The fight has even less of a chance of happening now that Alvarez, a legendary figure from Guadalajara, Mexico, was dethroned by Terence Crawford last September and – for the moment – is still at super middleweight.
Yet that doesn’t stop fans and media from broaching the subject, and it still brings a grin to Benavidez’s face whenever he is asked about it.
“I’m not really tired of it,” he said. “It’s a fight that the people have always wanted to see. Until Canelo retires, there’s still an opportunity to make the fight.”
For now, though, Benavidez remains fixated on the attractive matchups within his reach.
He was elevated to full titlist from his interim status last spring when lineal and unified 175lbs champ Dmitry Bivol, 24-1 (12 KOs), declined to move forward with their ordered bout.
Bivol vacated the WBC title, thus ending his claim as undisputed champ, though he still holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. Therefore, he remains a target.
So, too, does former undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev – the only fighter to beat Bivol, and vice versa in their two-fight series. Beterbiev was supposed to fight on the Benavidez-Yarde event in Riyadh, but he was pulled from the show for undisclosed reasons.
A still-dangerous light heavyweight, Beterbiev will become the focus of Benavidez’s attention once he takes care of business with Mexico’s Ramirez in May.
“I’m going up specifically for that fight,” Benavidez confirmed. “But I’m coming back down after that. Instead of me waiting on a fight, I’m moving up to get a recognizable name.
“I’m going for those [WBA and WBO] cruiserweight belts, but then I want to come back down and get Artur Beterbiev and Bivol.”
