David Benavidez talked more about Canelo Alvarez than about him before Saturday’s fight with Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
This is not an ideal way for Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO) to generate interest in this crucial fight, which is the toughest in the career of the 27-year-old Mexican monster.
Canelo as a promotional tool
Some fans believe that Benavidez is using Canelo’s name to promote his fight against Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KO) in a sneaky way to generate interest in the fight, rather than promoting it itself.
Is this Benavidez’s intentional strategy to mainly talk about Canelo, or is he as obsessed with him as a hero cult?
Benavidez has been talking about Canelo constantly for years, and it’s disturbing because it suggests he lacks the self-confidence to forge his path without constantly mentioning the superstar’s name.
If you’re Canelo, it must be off-putting that Benavidez is obsessed with him and it’s not surprising that he wants nothing to do with him. It must be a terrible feeling for Canelo to see that he likes someone so much and at the same time remains quiet day and night.
Benavidez feels entitled to fight for the title
“I’m going up to 175 pounds and I’m going to make a name for myself,” David Benavidez told Million Dollaz Worth of Game Youtube channel, talking about how he was forced to move up to delicate heavyweight because he couldn’t win the 168-pound title.
“For the last three years I was in first place and I should have fought for the belts. A guy who has seatbelts [Canelo Alvarez] has all four. So I should have become the unified champion three years ago,” Benavidez said.
Former two-time WBC super middleweight world champion Benavidez’s comments suggest he holds a lot of resentment towards Canelo for not getting the chance to fight, which he believes he is entitled to. But even if Canelo was beltless, Benavidez would probably be whining just as much, complaining that he doesn’t want to fight him, and sounding unhappy because he’s not giving him what he wants.
Benavidez believes he did everything right
“What if you did your job exceptionally well and got there? They promise you a promotion, but you never get it because someone else isn’t willing to give it to you,” Benavidez said.
“I did everything to get to the belts. I’m still the #1 contender [at super middleweight]and because of the money and the guy doesn’t want to fight me, that’s the only reason I don’t get a shot at the titles,” Benavidez said.
It seems that Benavidez’s complaining about Canelo is an attempt at mercy, playing the victim, and it makes him look pathetic in the eyes of fans. If Benavidez is solemn about fighting Canelo, talking about him a lot doesn’t support.
“It’s not something I wouldn’t do on my part. I did everything I could, which was good,” Benavidez said. “He’s just the second person who has the belts, he doesn’t want to fight me. They [WBC] they made me mandatory, but I don’t know why they don’t press the issue like they should.”
Boxing is a business and if the sanctioning authorities don’t want to force Canelo or any champion to fight another fighter, then that’s the way it is. Benavidez has to live with it. However, it would support if he accepted the fact that Canelo has no interest in fighting him and moved on instead of beating himself up about it.
This must be repugnant to Canelo because it is behavior alien to his internal structure of being. He clearly doesn’t understand Benavidez’s obsession, because that’s not how he works.
“Canelo is a cash cow. These sanction fees, the WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO, all receive a percentage. Because Canelo makes so much money, he gives everyone that 3%. So 3% of what he makes out of $40 million,” Benavidez said.
“They will probably walk away with $2 million each. Because of this, they let him do whatever he wants, which is not okay with me. I feel like if people want it and I’m number 1, they should make this fight mandatory, but for some reason they don’t.
Benavidez doesn’t understand that the sanctioning authorities are helpless in forcing Canelo to fight him, and they have no intention of doing so. You can’t blame them for not wanting to take chances
Benavidez accuses Canelo of choosing effortless fights
He chooses the easiest fights and then saves me until the end. He knows perfectly well that I am the strongest, fastest and best in this weight category. I’m still the best at 168 pounds. division and I will be the first to dethrone Canelo,” Benavidez said.
If Benavidez is the best in the super middleweight division, why didn’t he fight David Morrell Jr. when he challenged him and offered to fight for his “regular” WBA 168-pound belt? Why is Benavidez fighting at 175 pounds?
He can’t call himself the best when he’s fighting at delicate heavyweight now and has no interest in proving he’s the best at 168 pounds against Morrell.
Janibek Alimkhanuly made weight today for his second IBF 10-pound check and is ready to defend his IBF middleweight title against Andrei Mikhailovich tonight, October 4, at The Star in Sydney, Australia. Janibek’s photo on social media shows that he is skinny to control his 10-pound hydration limit.
Janibek (15-0, 10 KO) looked much bigger and older than Mikhailovich during the weigh-in and the last press conference. They should be the same height at 6’0″, but that’s not exact.
Mikhailovich appears to be around 5’10” lofty and not that forceful. He can’t punch like Janibek with a knockout, so he’ll have to find another way to win today.
The Janibek-Michajłowicz event will be broadcast live on ESPN+ in the US from 5:00 ET/2:00 PT.
“When you beat a dog, you become a dog. I always knew I would fight for the world title, no matter what people said. The fight with Janibek is amazing,” said Mikhailovich Fight. “It’s a real honor and a real privilege for me. I think he’s a great fighter.
“Sharing a ring with him is fantastic. I’m really proud and really elated. Janibek is a stern matter. He’s stern as hell. He comes from the Eastern Bloc. These are tough, tough people. I also come from the Eastern bloc, but I also have a weakness for kiwi. That’s the only difference.
“I still come from the same place as him, but don’t be fooled by all the playfulness and silliness. If you take yourself so seriously, it’s monotonous. People want to have fun. I want to have fun. I don’t drink or gamble. I’m having fun winding people up.
– Besides, it’s all just fun. The next gigantic thing is going to happen in 72 hours or a week. People will forget about me and Janibek until I fight again. It’s a constant cycle. You have to enjoy it when you do it.
“I believe he is humble. If you listen to what I’m saying, I didn’t say a single bad word about him. I’m just here to have fun,” Mikhailovich said.
Janibek Alimkhanuly and Andrei Mikhailovich will face each other before the ultimately canceled fight for the IBF/WBO middleweight title, which will take place on July 13 in Las Vegas. Photo credit: Mikey Williams, top position
Janibek Alimkhanuly had twice as much trouble making weight as his team had in determining the stakes for Friday’s fight.
The undefeated and unified middleweight champion weighed in at 171.7 pounds at the second day of the IBF weigh-ins. The result was just under the allowed 7.5 percent excess under the IBF’s modified same-day weight control regulations. IBF mandatory challenger Andrei Mikhailovich weighed in at 169.2 pounds as he prepared for his first career title fight.
At Thursday’s official pre-fight weigh-in, both fighters were within their contracted 160-pound limit. Alimkhnauly (15-0, 10 knockouts) weighed 159.5 pounds and Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KO) weighed 159.9 pounds.
Their fight will headline Friday’s ESPN+ show on The Star in Sydney, Australia. The event will also be broadcast locally on Kayo Sports.
Originally, Alimkhanuky was only supposed to defend the IBF belt. However, a recent WBO ruling reiterated that her belt is also at stake in what the sanctioning body considers a voluntary title defense.
The public declaration irritated the Alimkhanuly team, which felt cheated and agreed to comply with the IBF’s second day weigh-in. The clause does not apply during a unified title defense. This fight was considered a mandatory defense of the IBF title only until October 1. However, it was always known that Alimkhanuly would be stripped of his WBO title if he lost on Friday.
The Alimkhanuly-Mikhailovich gala was previously scheduled to take place on July 13 in Las Vegas. The fight was canceled before the pre-fight weigh-in when Alimkhanuly was hospitalized with dehydration.
As a result, Mikhailovich was left without a fight. Alimkhanuly was then summoned by the WBO – whose title he also holds – to provide medical evidence as to what led to his dehydration and whether he was fit to resume his reign.
Meanwhile, the IBF intervened and put the fight back on the table. This case was an epic moment for the #PurseBidHeads sports faction. No Limit Boxing, Mikhailovich’s promoter, outbid Top Rank by just $1,000 ($351,000-$350,000) to win the rights to the fight scheduled for September 3.
Alimkhanuly is making his fourth attempt to defend his title in the general classification and the first in the history of the IBF belt. He knocked out undefeated Vincent Gualtieri in the sixth round of their IBF/WBO unification fight on October 14 in Rosenberg, Texas.
Lightweight Tevin Farmer knows the game all too well. A sneaky hunter, he became a measuring stick for promoters trying to gauge how their fighters would fare against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. Farmer, with his slick defensive style and southpaw attitude, sees a pattern and is ready to prove he is more than just a test case for the next massive name.
On November 16, Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KO) returns to the ring in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, to face Mexican William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KO) in a fight that could make or break his career.
Farmer, a former IBF junior lightweight titleholder, is looking at a close decision loss to Raymond Muratalla – a fighter who, like many, is close to facing Stevenson. Now Farmer faces Zepeda, an aggressive, high-performance fighter who is on a four-fight knockout streak.
The farmer is fully aware of what is at stake. He had been here before, but this time the pressure was greater.
“They say me and Shakur [Stevenson] I have a similar style and I’m the one who wants to see how good Zepeda is to see if he’s ready for Shakur,” Farmer said. “But I promise you it won’t get to Shakur.”
28-year-old Zepeda looks unstoppable, and his last fight ended with a third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera. But Farmer, 34, still sees himself as a force to be reckoned with, despite setbacks. After losing the title to Joseph Diaz Jr. in January 2020. Farmer took a three-year hiatus before returning to win three fights in the Northeast. His recent loss to Muratalla was a close call, and now he’s determined to bounce back and clarify how he sees himself.
“I feel like I’m a adolescent veteran,” Farmer said. “I started boxing behind schedule, so I still feel adolescent, but I have a lot of fights ahead of me. I have to go out there and beat the guy that everyone is afraid of, and that’s William Zepeda.”
For Farmer, this fight is more than just another notch on his belt. It’s about regaining your place in the sport – or maybe leaving for good.
“The last fight was a do-or-die decision for me, but unfortunately it didn’t go my way,” Farmer said. “This time it’s really a matter of do or die. We come to put on a show.”
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