David Benavidez spent years waiting for Canelo Alvarez while he had the size to compete at light heavyweight. Now trainer Abel Sanchez is questioning why, after finally moving up, Benavidez is headed toward Michal Cieslak instead of making a stronger push for the fights he says he wants.
“He’s got to start to eliminate these guys,” Sanchez said in the interview. “He can’t keep going calling guys out.”
Sanchez wants Benavidez to beat opponents who would strengthen his claim to Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev, and he thinks Benavidez’s team should spend money to make a major fight possible.
The lost years at 168 pounds make that criticism sting. Benavidez stayed there chasing Canelo and left without the fight. He had the size to move up earlier and build his position at 175, where wins over leading contenders would have given him a stronger claim on Bivol or Beterbiev. Instead, he waited for a fight Canelo never gave him.
Cruiserweight is now producing a familiar argument. Benavidez wants Jai Opetaia, but Cieslak comes first as a WBC title opponent. “He’s fighting somebody that nobody knows,” Sanchez said.
That is harsh on Cieslak, who has earned his belt, but it gets to the career question: how much does that win add to Benavidez’s standing beside a victory over one of the division’s leading fighters?
The Opetaia fight has also acquired a longer explanation than fans expected. Opetaia signed with Zuffa, and his IBF title became the subject of a sanctioning dispute after its officials withdrew approval for his Brandon Glanton bout; that is separate from Benavidez’s decision to fight Cieslak. Benavidez and Opetaia have expressed interest in fighting, but interest alone does not put them in the ring.
Sanchez’s argument has a weak spot: money cannot always free Bivol or Beterbiev from their own commitments. Benavidez also took a serious risk against David Morrell, so it would be unfair to treat every opponent on his record as an easy choice.
Abel is still asking the right question about timing. Benavidez already spent years waiting for Canelo. If Cieslak leads directly to Opetaia, the cruiserweight move will have produced a major fight. If that fight drifts away too, another belt will be a thin return for more years spent chasing names.
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