By: Hans Themistode
David Benavidez may not say entirely too much but that doesn’t mean he isn’t listening. After wrapping up one of his daily workouts in preparation for his March 13th contest against fringe contender Ronald Ellis, Benavidez took the time to watch a recent interview that was conducted by the BoxingSweetScience2.0 and WBC middleweight belt holder Jermall Charlo.
During their discussion, Charlo was adamant about his ability to move up in weight and stop the much larger Benavidez in a future showdown.
“I’ll knock his ass the f**k out,” said Charlo during the interview. “I’ll move up and get that mother f**ker sooner or later.”
After hearing Charlo’s choice of word’s Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) could only smile as he gave his own prediction on their possible matchup.
“He says he can knock me out but I got the power to knock his ass out too,” said Benavidez during an interview with Esnews. “I would love to fight Charlo.”
While Benavidez would love nothing more than to shut the mouth of Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs), the 24-year-old is still working his way back up the 168-pound ladder.
In what turned out to be the Arizona native’s lone appearance in 2020, he easily dealt with Roamer Alexis Angulo by handing him a one-sided beating which resulted in a tenth round stoppage defeat but the highly regarded fighter saw his title reign come to an unexpected end as he was stripped of his belt for failing to make weight.
Regardless of the forfeiture of his title, Benavidez expects to get right back in the championship mix in the near future as he is ranked near the top of just about every sanctioning body in the super middleweight division.
For years now, Benavidez has pushed his chips to the middle of the table in his pursuit of a showdown with IBF titlist Caleb Plant. Recently, Benavidez has also let his feelings be known that newly crowned WBC belt holder Canelo Alvarez is a target on his Hitlist as well.
In terms of Charlo however, the eyes of Benavidez light up whenever his name is mentioned. Although the Houston native is presently campaigning one weight class lower, Benavidez has taken notice of his performances, including a dominant 12 round decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko this past September.
Although eight pounds is currently separating the two from making their contest a reality, Charlo has regurgitated on numerous occasions that he fully intends on moving up in weight soon. Should that happen, Benavidez won’t eschew from the two-weight world champion. Instead, he’ll welcome him with open arms.
“I think it would be a great fight, I think people would love to see that fight so I’m all for it.”