Benavidez: "Canelo Is Preparing to Retire"

"Interim" WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) shared his future plans and his thoughts on Canelo Álvarez.

"In the fight against Gvozdyk, I'll move up in weight class. It's going to be a big fight. Gervonta Davis and I are fighting on the same card. This could be the biggest fight of the year.

I'll be fighting for another belt [interim WBC light heavyweight], and it will position me for a fight with the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol. Growing up, my dream wasn’t: 'Oh, I want to fight Canelo.' My dream was to be the best in my generation.

Canelo? He knows I'm a beast. He can see it in my eyes. I want greatness, and they talk about money. I don’t care about money. I've been making a lot of money since I was young. It's not about that.

I want to be the undisputed champion at super middleweight, and I'm working towards that. I've just started my training camp, but I've already been training for two months. Nobody does that. I'm here, focused, I know what I want, and I know what I aim to achieve.

In the boxing world, a fight between Benavidez and Canelo is all they talk about now. When I heard that number, 150-200 million – even Mayweather and Pacquiao didn't get that. To me, it sounds like Canelo is preparing for retirement.

Canelo is preparing to retire, and he knows it. I'm not coming to play, and I won't lay down for anyone," Benavidez said.

Preliminary information suggests the fight between David Benavidez and Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs) for the interim light heavyweight title (up to 79.4 kg) could take place on June 15. It may be on the same card as the fight between WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) and Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KOs).