By: Hans Themistode
The sport of boxing has always had a specific pecking order. Those who are at the top have constantly dictated terms on when, how and where a showdown will take place.
Long before Floyd Mayweather became the top dog several years ago, he was forced to acquiesce to the demands of Oscar De La Hoya when the two faced off in 2007. Mayweather openly admitted that De La Hoya even chose the gloves he would wear on fight night.
Following that exact same blueprint, is pound-for-pound star, Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican native continues to rack up the wins and world titles but before a contest with him can be made, Alvarez makes it clear that he is the A side of the promotion. While some fighters have a problem forfeiting such power, super middleweight contender David Benavidez has no issue with playing second fiddle to Alvarez.
“He calls the shots, I got no power, I don’t got no belt,” said Benavidez during an interview with FightHype.com. “I’ll fight him in my backyard if that’s what it takes.”
Benavidez, 24, stood back and watched as Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) took care of business last weekend against British native Billy Joe Saunders. The two faced off at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas with three of the four super middleweight titles on the line. After a fairly competitive eight rounds, Alvarez ended things violently with a right uppercut in the eighth round. The moment it landed, Saunders winced in pain and held on to his man until the end of the round. As Saunders slumped into his corner, his team attempted to work on his right eye but to no avail.
With another dramatic win under his belt, Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) is convinced that Alvarez is a heavy hitter. With that said, the 24-year-old is extremely confident that he has all of the necessary tools to give him one helluva fight.
“His power is legit, he’s a f*cking great fighter but I feel like I’m the one who can give him that great fight. The type of people that have been fighting him, they’ve all been running from him. If you look at the (Danny) Jacobs fight, you look at the (Gennadiy) Golovkin fight, they stood there and fought with him. That’s why Canelo didn’t stop them. I got the power, I got the jab, I got great body shots so I feel like I can make it happen. We’re just waiting for the opportunity.”
