Boxing

David Benavidez Reveals He Was Offered Fight vs Canelo Alvarez

One of the biggest fights that could be made in boxing nearly came to fruition.
Nathaniel Marrero|
David Benavidez celebrates after defeating Caleb Plant (not pictured) in their Interim WBC Super Middleweight Championship boxing bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
David Benavidez celebrates after defeating Caleb Plant (not pictured) in their Interim WBC Super Middleweight Championship boxing bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

There's no disputing how big a fight between David Benavidez and Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez could be if it ever happened.

Unfortunately for boxing fans, a potential fight between Benavidez and Canelo may have already come to pass.

Benavidez went on Andre Ward's podcast, The Art of Ward, and said he was offered a fight against Canelo and accepted it, but never heard back from Canelo's team. Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), who is a former two-time super middleweight champion, said that before Alvarez fought Jaime Munguia on May 4 he accepted an offer for $5 million with no additional revenue, as opposed to $70 million for Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) before the money from the pay-per-view and gate come in.

"We said yes, then we never heard back," Benavidez said. "They were calling the bait out. They wanted to see if I was going to say yes or no. I think they thought that I was going to say no, I'm not going to fight for $5 million, this fight is worth way more. So, I mean I called the bluff, I said yes and that was the last time we ever heard about that fight."

Canelo is the WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion. Benavidez is the WBC interim champion at light heavyweight.

Canelo went on his run from December 2020 to November 2021 when he fought four times and became the undisputed super middleweight champion. Benavidez was the clear-cut best fight that could be made at super middleweight, but after Canelo lost to Dmitrii Bivol at light heavyweight, he's since fought less than inspiring opposition, including John Ryder and Jermell Charlo, who hadn't fought above junior middleweight before Alvarez beat him by unanimous decision on Sept. 30, 2023.

MORE: David Benavidez’s Top 5 Knockout Wins Ahead Of His Fight Against David Morrell

Benavidez isn't without blame for the fight vs. Canelo not happening yet. A failed drug test and missing weight led to Benavidez being stripped of his belt at super middleweight twice, thus allowing Canelo to become the undisputed champion without having to fight his biggest threat in the division.

Benavidez has since moved up to light heavyweight and is arguably going up against the biggest test of his career on Saturday when he faces fellow unbeaten champion David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) in what has turned into a bitter grudge match. While Morrell has all of Benavidez's attention, he still believes a fight against Canelo will eventually happen.

"This fight is inevitable," Benavidez said. "Everybody is asking for the biggest fight that could possibly be made and I'm not scared of Canelo. I feel like I could beat him."

Benavidez vs. Morrell will take place on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Premier Boxing Champions PPV on Prime Video and PPV.com.

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Nathaniel Marrero
NATHANIEL MARRERO

Nathaniel Marrero is a writer for the Boxing, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Ravens On SI sites. He's also written for the Orlando Sentinel and MLB.com, and was a part of UCF's sports show, Hitting The Field. He attended UCF and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023. Twitter/X: Nate_Marrero

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