Benavidez-Andrade winner hopes Canelo will call his name next
Undefeated super middleweights clash in main event of the final Showtime PPV card on Saturday night
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The big prize for any super middleweight is a fight against Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed champion and boxing’s biggest star.
David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade both badly want to fight him. That match would mean riches and potential for legacy-making glory, but neither has been afforded the opportunity, at least not yet.
So, with nowhere else to turn of major significance, the undefeated Benavidez and Andrade found their way to each other for what both believe is their biggest fight thus far.
“It takes two to tango. He had pretty much nowhere to go to and I had nowhere else to go to and I didn’t want to keep doing the lackluster thing,” Andrade said. “At the end of the day, I got to stay busy. I got to take fights that are presented to me because I don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing whoever I want to fight. Don’t work like that with me. But David and I knew that nobody wants to fight (us). OK, we have to take this fight.”
Benavidez has a similar view.
“This is definitely the biggest fight of my career,” Benavidez said. “I give Demetrius a lot of props. He’s a great fighter and a lot of people have been ducking him for a long time. Nobody wanted to give him the opportunity but now we came together and we have the opportunity to make a great fight happen. These are the fights I want. I want to make my own lane and face the best. Andrade is one of the best in this weight class.”
And so Benavidez will defend the WBC interim super middleweight title against former middleweight and junior middleweight titleholder Andrade in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 8 p.m. ET, $74.99) at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. It is the final Showtime PPV in its glorious 37-year history as parent company Paramount Global is shuttering Showtime Sports at the end of the year.
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