For ‘The Mexican Monster,’ the face-off with the Mexican superstar remains the Mt. Rushmore of fights. David Benavidez‘s chase for an epic duel with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has become a boxing folklore. Only it kept on slipping out of his hands. Frustrated, he decided to carve out a legacy in the light heavyweight division and awaits a big showdown with Dmitry Bivol now. But the big question persists: what’s next? Will he continue to shadow Canelo? Or does a foray into a higher weight class remain a viable option?

Getting the ball rolling on his undisputed dream, on February 1, David Benavidez defeated David Morrell and claimed the pole position. Options are plentiful. While he’s eying a fight with Bivol, Benavidez could step in to face interim champion Callum Smith. Of course, the Canelo fight remains his ultimate target. However, Benavidez is a practical man. He knows proving himself consistently remains the best way to claim a big fight. And for that, he’s ever prepared to challenge himself. If he succeeds in establishing a name in a division that somehow escaped Canelo’s scrutiny, then his argument to claim a fight becomes more compelling!

The lively discussion with entrepreneur-podcaster Zach Hirsh traced David Benavidez’s entire career path. From the time when he picked up the gloves to his championship wins and pursuing Canelo Alvarez. Later, the two exchanged views on Jake Paul‘s prospects and contributions to boxing.

Overall, with top fighters facing each other more frequently, Benavidez saw the sport as being on an upward trajectory. Examples of the Amanda Serrano–Katie Taylor fight and the Usyk-Fury matches came to the fore. He didn’t see TKO boxing disrupting the sport but rather adding more opportunities for fighters. Benavidez felt that the current four-belt system would stay because it is boxing’s equivalent of the Super Bowl or NBA Finals.

With just five minutes left, Hirsch segued from the main thread of the interview and asked, “You’re a big dude. You’ve definitely filled that at 175. Do you see yourself ultimately going up to cruiserweight and beyond?”

David Benavidez: Staying open to all opportunities

“Yeah, I think so. Um, honestly, if I had the opportunity to go up to cruiserweight right now, I would take it,” replied David Benavidez. His focus remained on dominating the 175-pound division and winning all belts, whether against Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, or others. He highlighted how he had been sparring with cruiserweight unified champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, who suffered his first career loss to Bivol three years ago.

“So I definitely, uh, I feel good at 175 right now, but I feel like I can make the jump to one, uh, to 200 cruiserweight, yeah, so the cruiserweight is definitely in my cards,” Benavidez added. But definitely competing at heavyweight remained out of scope for ‘The Mexican Monster.’

If Benavidez succeeds in becoming a champion at 200 pounds, then he would accomplish what back in 2022 Canelo had almost achieved. In November 2021, Canelo’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso, took permission from the WBC so that Canelo could fight Ilunga Makabu for the WBC cruiserweight title. The WBC approved this request.

Traditionally, the cruiserweight limit was 200 pounds. The WBC reduced the limit to 190 pounds because they introduced a new weight class called bridgerweight. This change meant that fighters in the cruiserweight division now had to weigh 190 pounds or less. So there were talks that Canelo vs. Makabu could happen in May 2022. However, the fight never materialized. Makabu was forced into a mandatory title defense against Thabiso Mchunu on January 29, 2022.

An undisputed champion in the light heavyweight and then a cruiserweight title—perhaps then, Canelo may not have any more reason to postpone a fight with David Benavidez.

What’s your take? Should Benavidez take a chance at the 200 pounds as well?