By Norm Frauenheim
It looks as if hints to David Benavidez’ immediate future will play out Saturday with light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol’s comeback from back surgery against German Michael Eifert in Russia, but that hasn’t stopped anybody from talking — ad nauseam — about Canelo Alvarez.
By all accounts, Canelo-Benavidez won’t happen. At least, that’s what Canelo said definitively during a news conference in Egypt for a Sept. 12 fight against Christian Mbilli.
Benavidez is a cruiserweight and possibly an emerging heavyweight, Stay there, Canelo said. In a rare agreement with Canelo, Benavidez father and trainer Jose Sr. also told Fight Hub TV that the fight was no longer a possibility.
The only sure thing is that fans and media will continue to debate, wonder and fantasize about it.
Canelo-Benavidez has become a permanent fixture in the public imagination, which is where it figures to stay.
Nevertheless, Benavidez repeated what he said after his beatdown of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez for a unified cruiserweight title May 2. He can still make 175 pounds. Meanwhile, Canelo is staying at 168 in a bid for a World Boxing Council title against Christian Mbilli Sept. 12.
If a heavily favored Bivol wins Saturday, a return to 175 could create Benavidez’ first opportunity at an undisputed title, a key addition to his pound-for-pound resume. The Phoenix born-and-forged fighter has the WBC version of the light-heavy title; Bivol has the other three belts.
“I was ready then and I’m ready now,’’ said Benavidez, who was in Mexico City Wednesday to honor his father as the WBC’s Trainer of the Year. “I can still make 175.’’
Benavidez went on to mention Canelo. It’s impossible not to. Yet, his promised 25-pound move downscale is really about a shot at Bivol and that undisputed distinction.
Against Eifert, there’s a chance to see what Bivol still has. Has he completely recovered from back surgery? Is he still the same fighter who upset Canelo and evened the score with a rematch decision over Artur Beterbiev?
Answers will go a long way to figuring out what and who are next for Benavidez, now a top five pound-for-pound contender. But the questions will still be about Canelo.
FIGHT CITY
Bivol, who is of Russian and Korean descent, will be fighting in his home country in a city, Yekaterinburg, with lots of history, some noteworthy and some ominous.
It is Russia’s fourth largest city, located east of the Ural Mountains. In the early to mid-19th century, the city’s mines produced 45 percent of all the gold in the world. Some of that gold can be seen, glittering off domes at the top of an old church.
It’s called Church on the Blood. Czar Nicholas II, Russia’s last monarch, and his family were murdered there by the Bolsheviks in July, 1918.
