David Benavidez makes Saudi plea as he tries to force Canelo Alvarez fight
Associated PressSuper-middleweight contender David Benavidez has pleaded with Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh to finally land a shot at undisputed world champion Canelo Alvarez.
Alvarez holds all four world title belts in the 168 pounds division but Benavidez, who is the WBC interim world champion, is considered the number one contender in the division.
The 27-year-old has twice been a WBC super-middleweight world champion and has beaten previous world champions David Lemieux, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade in his last three fights.
The pressure is growing from the boxing public for Canelo to give Benavidez, who is unbeaten in 28 fights, his shot, but the four-weight world champion has so far remained unmoved.
The 33-year-old has been slammed this week for claiming it would take $150-200 million dollars before he’d consider fighting Benavidez as he “brings nothing to the table”.
That hasn’t stopped Benavidez from calling out the Mexican, though, and after being unsuccessful in securing the fight under the Premier Boxing Champions promotional banner, Benavidez has now looked elsewhere in his bid to land the bout.
Saudi Arabian promoter Turki Alalshikh, has managed to promote some of the biggest heavyweight boxing fights this decade across in Saudi Arabia over the last year.
The lucrative paydays he has put in front of fighters has managed to secure two undisputed world title fights later this year, as Tyson Fury takes on Oleksandr Usyk for the heavyweight titles and Artur Beterbiev faces Dmitry Bivol for the light-heavyweight straps.
And Benavidez has pleaded with Alalshikh to put up the money for Canelo to defend his undisputed super-middleweight world titles in Saudi Arabia against him in the “biggest Mexican-American fight in boxing history.
“Let’s bring the biggest and most exciting fight to Saudi Arabia,” Benavidez said on Instagram, addressing Alalshikh.
“This will be the biggest Mexican vs Mexican-American fight in the history of boxing, and what better place to do it than the Kingdom, for the entire world to see?
“This fight is for pride and glory. I fight for greatness, not money. If I do not beat Canelo, I will donate my entire purse to any kids charity of your liking.
“When I do beat Canelo, I will be donating a huge amount of that purse to benefit child hunger across the world. I’m a champion of the people and will continue to fight the best! I stand by my words!”
Canelo will defend his world titles against unbeaten former super-welterweight world champion Jaime Munguia on May 4. He will likely fight again in September and Benavidez will continue to push to be his next opponent.
