Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, David Benavidez, can make 168 to challenge Terence Crawford for his undisputed super middleweight championship.
Jose Sr. states that ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) needs to get his title defense of his WBC light heavyweight belt out of the way against Anthony Yarde. They would then be ready to train, come down to 168 for the Crawford super fight.
A Sacrifice Worth Making
Benavidez would make the sacrifice to get down to 168 so that he could be involved in the mega-fight against Crawford. It would be a huge fight, potentially bigger than the Canelo-Crawford clash, given Crawford’s popularity has soared following his win over Canelo.
Many of Alvarez’s Mexican fans would be eager to see if Benavidez can get revenge on his behalf against Crawford. They would see it that way and would be amped up about watching Benavidez battle Bud for redemption.
“He proved himself. So, why not? If that’s what he [Turki Alalshikh] wants, let us do this fight [Anthony Yarde],” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to MillCity Boxing about his interest in a clash between ‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez and Terence Crawford.
“If Turki Alalshikh wants that fight, if the people want to see that fight, we’ll make anything in our training camp to make that fight happen,” said Jose Sr. about wanting the Benavidez vs. Crawford fight.
Alalshikh’s Strategic Hint
Turki’s post on X last Saturday night, asking if David Benavidez can still make 168, was a big hint that he’s interested in setting up the next superfight involving Crawford.
The timing of the enquiry by Alalshikh, immediately after Crawford’s upset of Canelo Alvarez, can mean only one thing. He wants to match Benavidez against Crawford next. It wouldn’t make sense for Turki to have posted that if he was hoping to make the Canelo vs. Benavidez, because he’d just been beaten.
“Yeah, I don’t think David has a problem making 168. Anything is possible, especially fighting for all those belts [undisputed at super middleweight],” said Jose Sr. about his son, Benavidez, being able to make the 168-lb limit to challenge Crawford for his undisputed championship.
The Financial Lure of Crawford
With the purse that Benavidez would get fighting Crawford, it would be well worth it for him to do whatever he can to drain down to 168 to make the colossal showdown take place. Thus far, Crawford has shown resistance to fighting Benavidez, but I believe Turki can convince him to take the fight if he makes it financially worthwhile.
Crawford isn’t realistically going to make that same kind of money fighting any of the super middleweight contenders or the champions at 160. A legacy fight against Benavidez will likely pay Crawford better than if he were to fight light heavyweights Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev. He hasn’t mentioned wanting to fight either of them, but those would be bouts that would interest fans in huge numbers.
Last Updated on 09/18/2025
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