David Benavidez calls out Canelo to challenge his WBC super middleweight belt

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].”