Eventually, David Benavidez had to move on.
Eventually, Benavidez couldn’t wait any longer.
As much as the two-time WBC super middleweight champion, and current interim title holder, wanted to secure the fight that he’s long wanted — and recently, deserved — for the ultimate undisputed prize, the man on the other end wouldn’t nudge.
Canelo Alvarez, the current king of the 168-pound division and one of the faces of boxing for a generation, wouldn’t cooperate.
Despite how lucrative and how much intrigue that matchup would bring, Alvarez showed little interest.
Eventually, Benavidez’s burgeoning stardom needed to take its next step.
So, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is moving up to the light heavyweight division, fighting Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs) for the interim WBC 175-pound title Saturday night (8 p.m. Eastern, Amazon Prime PPV) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as the co-main event of the Gervonta Davis-Frank Martin card.
“I can’t keep getting upset, and I can’t be mad,” Benavidez told The Post. “At the end of the day, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve done everything possible. I’ve fought Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade, the best in the weight class. I’ve been a main event, I’ve sold pay-per-views, I’ve had packed houses. I can’t get mad if another man doesn’t want to fight me.
“I just take the negative and make it a positive. He doesn’t want to fight me for a reason because he knows that I am the best. If he wants to lose out on this fight, then he’s gonna lose out on it. He talks about everybody getting a pay-day, but I’m the biggest pay-day that’s out there for him.”
Benavidez, 27, has slugged his way across the super middleweight division, destroying David Lemieux via TKO to win the interim title before dominating Plant and Andrade — two of the division’s best — via unanimous decision and a corner retirement, respectively, to defend his belt.
His body keeps getting bigger, though, and it was time to move up to light heavyweight.
He’s still open, and desiring, to fight Alvarez afterward if the latter comes around.
But for the moment, Benavidez’s ambition lies in the new weight class.
“I’m just ready to take over,” Benavidez, a Phoenix native, said. “I’m very ambitious, I know I can beat all these guys. I’m gonna start picking these guys one by one. You guys will see I will be the king at 175 pounds.”
Benavidez’s aggressive, punishing style and power have helped him draw fans and interest.
He dubs himself a “true Mexican fighter,” one fans know to expect from fight after fight.
“For me to be this type of fighter, at the end of the day I feel like you’re an entertainer, but you gotta be a gladiator,” Benavidez said. “If I wanna make a lot of money in this sport, I’m not just gonna call everybody out, I’m gonna fight with my heart. I’m gonna give these fans what they wanna see. And that’s the only way to get up to that level. You gotta give great performances, which I’ve always given my entire career.
“I’m getting bigger and bigger. Everybody is learning my name. Everybody loves the way I fight, and I throw good shows.”
Still, Alvarez is like a scratch he can’t itch.
He’ll remain in the back of Benavidez’s mind, a prize that he can’t yet reach.
But Benavidez believes he knows what his current reality — his Saturday return — truly means.
“As much as [Alvarez] likes to say that I’m no risk and that I bring nothing to the table, I’m the biggest risk out there for him,” Benavidez said. “He knows that for a fact. What makes him scared is that he knows I’m hungry. I’m not fighting for money, I don’t give a f–k about the money, I don’t care about the money.
“My main objective is to become the king of boxing and win all the titles. I’ve done everything possible to get there.”
Another Benavidez fight, another promised performance to remember.
They keep only getting better.
“I think you guys haven’t even seen half of what I could do,” Benavidez said. “This is the reason I’ve been calling for these harder fights. Every time I get in there with a hard fight, I shine. I show up to the occasion. That’s gonna keep happening. The better fighters I have in front of me, the better I look.
“I’ve known that for a long time.”
