David Benavidez slams Canelo Alvarez for massive demands to fight him: “He’s spitting in your guys face"
David Benavidez has called for a clash with super middleweight Canelo Alvarez for almost two years but appears no closer to securing arguably the biggest fight in the sport. As such, he will be making his light heavyweight debut this weekend with hopes of becoming an undisputed world champion at 175 pounds.
Alvarez is currently the undisputed 168-pound champion, and despite Benavidez having been his WBC mandatory challenger for several years, the pair were never scheduled to fight.
Over recent months, the Mexican has demanded a staggering purse of $200 million to fight 'El Monstruo'. With the recent investment in boxing from the Saudi Kingdom in the shape of Turki Alalshikh, boxing's biggest fights have started to be organized - a perennial problem for the sport in the past.
Alvarez may be seeking to capitalize on the seemingly endless bounty of Saudi Arabia's elite, but he has recently been criticized by Benavidez for his massive demands.
Ahead of the light heavyweight debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, the 27-year-old was interviewed by Fight Hub TV, where he said this:
"I did everything in my power possible to make this fight happen. It's just not happening because of Canelo, 100%. What I wanted to tell you guys too, this guy is making the most money out of everybody, he's charging you guys so much for the pay-per-views. It's like he's spitting in your guys face, saying that he doesn't give a f**k what you guys want. He's not going to give you the best fights, he's going to fight the fights that he wants. In my opinion, that's a little bit disrespectful to the fans."
Watch David Benavidez's interview below (0:45):
Oleksandr Gvozdyk admits David Benavidez "dominated" their sparring session
David Benavidez will make his light heavyweight debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in the co-main event of the Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin card, set to take place on June 15.
Ahead of their fight, the Ukrainian discussed their sparring session, which took place many years ago.
Gvozdyk was surprisingly candid about the nature of the session, considering his upcoming clash with 'El Monstruo', and said this:
"It was a long time ago, maybe seven years ago. Yeah, he dominated the sparring. I have no excuses, yeah. He was better. He dominated... I don't like to make excuses. In my opinion, I came from Ukraine, jet-lagged, not training, he was in the middle of camp."
Watch Gvozdyk discuss sparring with David Benavidez below (0:50):