From the time Saul Canelo Alvarez defeated Gennady Golovkin to unify the middleweight belts, he’s perhaps the most sought-after pugilist in the heavier weight classes: super middleweight and light heavyweight.

While Canelo was in talks for a trilogy with middleweight rival Golovkin, there were a couple of other possible opponents that cropped up, that of Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith.

And now, another 168-pounder – WBC champion David Benavidez – has joined in the bandwagon.

Benavidez, yet to taste his defeat, has an impressive KO record of 19 from his 22 wins. He believes his 8-centimetre height advantage could pose some serious threat to Canelo. 

“I feel like a fight with Canelo would be an explosive fight, fan-friendly fight,” Benavidez was quoted as saying by BoxingScene. 

“We’re both brawlers, Mexican fighters. My advantages: I’m taller, have a longer reach. I feel like this is my one big opportunity to show the world who I am, so I don’t feel like this means as much to him as it does to me.”

Benavidez, who hasn’t fought since defending his title with a Round 9 stoppage of Anthony Dirrell in September last year, expressed displeasure at the selection of his opponents. 

The 23-year-old was originally scheduled to fight Avni Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs), only for the latter to pull out with injury.

He was then pitted against Roamer Alexis Angulo (26-1, 22 KOs), but that bout too fell out due to the coronavirus pandemic that has indefinitely suspended all sporting events worldwide.  

“You know, I wasn’t [happy with the matchmaking]. I really wasn’t,” he Benavidez.

“But because I had three other fighters pull out, we had to go with him. Originally it was a No. 1, with the Turkish guy [Yildirim], then he got injured and two fighters pulled out after that, so that’s why we landed on [Angulo].”