In the future, David Benavidez could be where Canelo Alvarez is today! However, a fight between them doesn’t seem possible at the moment. Recent reports revealed that the Mexican superstar will fight Jamie Munguia or Edgar Berlenga, shattering hope for ‘The Mexican Monster.’ As a result, Benavidez decided to stop waiting around for Canelo to give him a shot at the undisputed middleweight title and cooked up a plan to move weight divisions.
In the latest update, the undefeated Benavidez is making his way up to the light heavyweight division to fight the 20-1 Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Gvozdyk. It will effectively put him on a collision course to face the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol. He would accomplish two things by fighting Gvozdyk: one, get a shot at the undisputed title in the light heavyweight division and, two defeat the guy who defeated Canelo Alvarez (if Bivol wins against Beterbiev, that is). However, there’s one little caveat that might get overlooked here: he might not be able to come back down in weight and put on the same performance. After all, not everyone is Gervonta Davis. But is moving to light heavyweight such a problematic prospect for Benavidez?
Gervonta Davis: A champion wherever he goes!
Back in June 2021, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fought Mario Barrios at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Both fighters were undefeated at the time, but Barrios’ zero didn’t last for long. After eleven rounds of battle, ‘Tank’ Davis took home the win via technical knockout. He brutalized Barrios, and that too, in his debut in the 140 lbs division.
He was coming off a win over Leo Santa Cruz at lightweight, that too at 130 lbs. More impressively, the Baltimore native went back down to lightweight, after his win, for his next fight against Isaac Cruz and won that one, too. However, the question is, can David Benavidez do the same? Let’s for argument’s sake, consider that he captures the undisputed at light heavyweight by defeating the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol. What happens next?
The fate of David Benavidez at 175 pounds
There is a likelihood that Benavidez has a good shot at becoming the best at 175! When he fights Gvozdyk, he will likely win the fight, given Benavidez’s resume in comparison to Gvozdyk. Then, suppose he even gets a shot at the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol and miraculously wins. It will definitely solidify his claim to fight Canelo Alvarez, and it will also put pressure on Alvarez for the fight since he demands boxers need to earn a clash against him. However, what if going to 175 makes it difficult for Benavidez to come back down to 168 lbs.
Not just go down in weight, but go down in weight to fight one of the best in the division. It will definitely drain him, and more importantly, once he gets used to the power at a higher division, it will affect his power delivery at a lower division.
It becomes a problem, even more so, because of Benavidez’s height and frame. He is a tall guy with lots of power, but a drained fighter who is used to heavier weights may face issues competing at the same level. Conversely, what if he becomes comfortable with fighting at 175 lbs? There’s no way Canelo will climb to 175 lbs, so he will have to go down, putting himself at a disadvantage. What happened to Ryan Garcia is a great example of this.
Move down in weight didn’t work for Ryan Garcia
Garcia was initially at lightweight, dominating his opponents, having only been knocked down once. He then moved up to super lightweight in 2022 to fight Javier Fortuna, whom he defeated with a sixth-round KO. However, a big money fight and a clash against the best at 135, a.k.a Gervonta Davis, influenced him to move back down in weight.
And when he did go down, everyone knows what happened to the then-undefeated Ryan Garcia. Even though he was on the offensive from the start, soon, Davis took over and knocked out Garcia in the seventh round with a body shot. All the speed Garcia may have gained from the weight cut went down the drain when Davis’ power proved greater.
It’s not like Garcia doesn’t have power, but because he was used to more power at a higher division, it fell short of knocking out or knocking down Davis. However, when Garcia moved back up to 140 lbs to fight Oscar Duarte, he didn’t have much problem stopping Duarte in the eighth round.
The same may happen to Benavidez, who is still very much looking forward to fighting Canelo Alvarez sometime in the future. A fight with Alvarez will then prove problematic for Benavidez, who will have become accustomed to fighting at a higher weight and greater power. The move up is in itself not a bad idea, but coming back to 168 lbs to fight Canelo Alvarez could prove to be his downfall.
At the same time, he could abandon the dream of fighting Canelo and rule over the light heavyweight division. Even still, all this is conjecture until Benavidez does move up and has to move back down. Do you think the fluctuations in weight will affect David Benavidez? Or do you think Benavidez can dominate in both weight classes?
