LAS VEGAS – David Benavidez believes he sent an intimidating message to Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night.
By battering and stopping previously undefeated Demetrius Andrade, the mandatory challenger for Alvarez’s WBC super middleweight title is sure Alvarez realizes more than ever the type of grueling fight he should expect if they finally meet in 2024.
“For Canelo and everybody else,” Benavidez stated during his post-fight press conference, “it just shows I’m not f—— around. I’m here to stay.”
The left-handed Andrade (32-1, 19 KOs), who was the first southpaw Benavidez fought in seven years, executed effectively during the first three-plus rounds at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. The former middleweight and junior middleweight champion consistently used his legs, shifted positions to turn Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), landed punches and made their fight very competitive.
The relentless Benavidez badly hurt Andrade with his right hand, however, which knocked Andrade to the canvas with three seconds to go in the fourth round. Andrade beat referee Thomas Taylor’s count, yet he never really recovered from that punch, which enabled Benavidez to hit his courageous challenger with various hard head and body shots during damaging fifth and sixth rounds.
Their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event was stopped by Andrade’s corner men following a brutal sixth round.
Benavidez produced perhaps the most impressive victory of his 10-year career. The Phoenix native hopes to finally fight Alvarez on May 4, when Mexico’s Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) has indicated he will return to the ring.
Boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion will have other options, but Benavidez is the opponent fans most want to see challenge Alvarez for his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound crowns.
The 26-year-old Benavidez hopes the WBC enforces Alvarez’s mandatory obligation, but another WBC interim champ, middleweight Carlos Adames, has been its mandatory challenger for full champ Jermall Charlo for over a year. Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) hasn’t defended his WBC belt since June 2021, when he defeated Mexican contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) at Toyota Center in Houston.
Charlo ended a 29-month layoff Saturday night by defeating Jose Benavidez Jr. (28-3-1, 19 KOs), David’s older brother, unanimously on points in a 10-round, non-title fight on the Benavidez-Andrade undercard. Houston’s Charlo hopes Alvarez picks him instead of David Benavidez as his next opponent, but Benavidez pointed out that “The Mexican Monster” is the 33-year-old Alvarez’s most appealing option.
“I just look at the facts,” Benavidez said. “You know, the people wanna see this fight more than Carlos Adames and Charlo. You know, that’s why that fight hasn’t happened. But for me and Canelo, we got motion. You know what I mean? I been winning the fights I’m supposed to win in fantastic fashion. He has nobody else to fight. You know what I mean? So, if they wanna give it to me now, later, whenever, I’m not going nowhere.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.