David Benavidez handicaps Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant fight, hopes to take on winner

If there’s an interested spectator above all others entering Saturday’s super middleweight undisputed championship bout pairing Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant in Las Vegas, it’s the man who hopes to get the call to face the winner. 

Former two-time WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) could’ve potentially seen himself in the shoes of either fighter entering this weekend’s Showtime PPV (9 p.m. ET) had he not been stripped twice of his belt over the past three years — once for testing positive for cocaine and a second time last August when he missed weight ahead of a title defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo.  

Benavidez will make his return to the ring in a Nov. 13 homecoming on Showtime against late replacement Kyrone Davis, who fills in for former champion Jose Uzcategui following his own failed drug test. And one thing Benavidez is hoping is that should the heavily favored Alvarez get his hand raised, he will avoid moving right back up to 175 pounds before considering a fight with Benavidez.  

“I feel like a lot of people are clawing for that fight,” Benavidez told CBS Sports on Tuesday. “I feel that I am, aside from Canelo, the best 168-pounder. That’s why a lot of people don’t want to fight me because there is a little bit of reward right now with a lot of risk. A lot of people are avoiding me, especially Canelo.  

“Obviously, I’m not going to say Canelo is scared of me because there isn’t too much reward for him right now. I feel like the people eventually will want to see that fight. I’m the only fighter at 168 who can give Canelo a run for his money and I think I can beat him. I have been at 168 for a long time and I deserve to fight him.” 

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