By Norm Frauenheim
David Benavidez, once branded as a weight bully, now looks up-and-down the scale and sees only options.
Bullies are sometimes hostages, too, trapped by a narrow pursuit that eliminates other possibilities.
For Benavidez, that was Canelo and only Canelo. It kept him at 168 pounds, a super-middleweight division long ruled by Canelo Alvarez. For as long as it did, there was nowhere else to go for Benavidez.
At 23-years-old, he missed weight in 2020, losing the World Boxing Council’s 168-pound title for the second time since a positive drug test, yet never losing it in the ring. Still, he chased Canelo for five more fights over three-and-half years. The pursuit bullied the bully, keeping him at 168 and only 168.
From bout to bout, birthday-to-birthday, he battled to make the weight while his maturing body told him to move on, move up.
His toughest fight?
“The scale,’’ Benavidez, now 29, said at a recent news conference for the formal announcement in his bid for a cruiserweight title against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez May 2 in Las Vegas.
It was a joke. Kind of. The question asked by The Boxing Hour, should have been more specific. To wit: Who was his toughest opponent?
“Caleb Plant,” said Benavidez, a Phoenix born-and-forged fighter who battled and beat Plant, scoring a hard-fought decision in Vegas March 2023.
He would fight once more at super-middle, winning both the fight with the scale and then Demetrius Andrade later that year.
Still, Canelo would not budge, perhaps because he saw Benavidez as too big, or too loud or too much of both. Whatever the reason, Benavidez moved on, moved up. The question, however, is still there.
“For as long as Canelo is still out there, still active, it’ll always will be,’’ Benavidez said.
Canelo is planning a September 12 comeback in Riyadh from his scorecard loss to Terence Crawford. Christian Mbilli and others have been mentioned for what will be Canelo’s first fight in a year. But don’t bother to look too far down the list. Benavidez’ name is not there. The question is, of course.
These days, it’s almost always preceded by an apology. Sorry, but we have to ask.
Benavidez is happy to answer. Maybe, relieved, too. His move up the scale has freed him from the frustration that had been attached to the futile pursuit of what would have been a rich date with Canelo. It’s also freed him to take on risks that can make or break a legacy.
Cruiserweight is that risk. After three fights at light-heavyweight, Benavidez is making the jump, from 175- pound champion to 200-pound challenger.
Zurdo, Benavidez’ old sparring partner, has been at the weight for three fights over the last two years. He’s won two of the belts. His experience, familiarity, gives him an edge.
Another Zurdo advantage is measurable. Benavidez has always been the bigger fighter. In a face-off at the end of a Las Vegas newser late last month, however, Benavidez had to look up to look into Zurdo’s eyes. Will that matter? Maybe not.
But that photo is just one indication of adjustments confronting Benavidez in a bid for a third division title.
There’s a sense that Benavidez’ energy and whirlwind punching rate will propel him to victory. Betting odds reflect that. Benavidez is a slight favorite, minus 310.
Jai Opetaia, the world’s most feared cruiserweight, talked about Benavidez-Zurdo during the days before his bout against Brandon Glanton in a Zuffa-promoted card Sunday in Vegas. He wants the winner.
Opetaia, the most interesting big guy from Down Under since David Tua, also talked to Benavidez during the Ryan Garcia-Mario Barrios fight on March 21. They weren’t exchanging gardening tips. The Benavidez-Opetaia possibility has got fans talking.
Whatever happens, Benavidez hasn’t eliminated anything on either side of his current place on the scale. He says he still wants to fight Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev at light-heavy.
The difference between 175-to 168 is seven pounds however. That’s a lot less than the 25 pounds separating 200 from 175.
Can he go back down, win another fight with the scale? He’s done it before, which explains why he’s confident he can do it again.
But doubts increase as he gets older. It’s also not clear what Bivol and Beterbiev plan to do. There was talk of them in a second rematch, a trilogy. But both names have begun to fall out of the media and the pound-for-pound ratings. Their careers are close to the end.
Meanwhile, Benavidez is just beginning on a path that some say will lead to heavyweight. Cruiserweight is just seen as a steppingstone for him and Opetaia, as it was for Evander Holyfield and Oleksandr Usyk. But that option will have to wait.
“The question is not whether I can fight at heavyweight,’’ Benavidez said. “It’s whether I want to.’’
