Although David Benavidez truly enjoys pummeling his foes on fight night, the former two-time super middleweight titlist dreads making the 168-pound weight limit.
At times, squeezing down his enormous frame has cost him, including against Roamer Alexis Angulo in 2020. After crushing Anthony Dirrell via ninth-round stoppage, Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) attempted to defend his newly won WBC crown against the longtime journeymen.
Ultimately, Benavidez would go on to run over his man but not before losing his trinket on the scales due to his failure to make weight. Since then, the 26-year-old has rededicated himself to the arduous weight-making process, doing so successfully on three consecutive occasions.
While he appears to have his weight under control, Benavidez won’t protract his super middleweight stay for much longer.
“I feel like I have only like four fights left at super middleweight,” said Benavidez to a group of reporters.
Amongst his handful of bouts, Benavidez is gearing up to take on longtime rival, Caleb Plant. The two will officially swap fists on March 25th, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Despite his need to hand his body a reprieve by moving up to the light heavyweight division, Benavidez is drawn to the idea of partaking in several mouthwatering bouts.
Currently, of course, the WBC interim titlist acknowledges that he has to take care of business against Plant. Nevertheless, if everything goes according to plan, Benavidez wholeheartedly believes that showdowns against the rest of the division’s top dogs will fall into place.
Although he would love nothing more than to unambiguously prove that he’s the man to beat at 168 pounds, if a win over Plant doesn’t lead to immediate big fights, he’ll wash his hands of the super middleweight division for good.
“The reason why I stayed for so long is because I wanted to make this fight happen for sure. And then since I’m already there, I might as well try to make these other big fights happen. We got Canelo, we got (David) Morrell, (Jermall) Charlo, or maybe Boo Boo Andrade and then after that, I’m going up to 175. If I can’t get any of those fights made then I’m going to 175.”