The way David Benavidez got ducked by Canelo Alvarez? Well, that is the kind of ditching no fighter wants when they’ve consistently paved their way up to become a mandatory challenger. Sure, nobody knew the 28-year-old until he defeated the 23-2 boxer, Caleb Plant, in March 2023. But, since then, he has stayed undefeated and even positioned himself as the top contender in the super middleweight division, the weight class he used to be at earlier. But Canelo had made it pretty clear that he didn’t think Benavidez was accomplished enough to fight him.

Still, Benavidez felt like he’d come extremely close to his dream of getting a shot at the 63-2 boxer’s undisputed status in the division when WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman ordered Cinnamon to face the mandatory challenger. However, the 34-year-old’s staggering purse demand for $200 million had shocked both fans and Benavidez’s camp alike. So, the highly-anticipated showdown never made it to the ring. Frustrated by nearly two years of constant callouts, the 30-0 boxer just chose to do what anyone else would’ve—move up and on. But then too, things remained the same. Previously, it was the Mexican star Alvarez. And now it is the unified light heavyweight champion, Dimitry Bivol, too tangled in an Artur Beterbiev trilogy to give the Phoenix native a fight. But, it finally looks like Benavidez has found another way to corner either Bivol or Alvarez for a fight.

Recently, The Red Flag was seen in an interview conversation on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, talking to the hosts Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. It wasn’t way until the end of the over 40-minute video when Benavidez revealed his next targets. “So right now, we’re thinking about either Callum Smith or Anthony Yarde. Obviously, those are the two top guys in that division. More likely Callum Smith,” said the WBC light heavyweight champ. When Cejudo asked him if Callum Smith had fought Canelo, Benavidez moved on to explain why the 31-2 British boxer is the right opponent to take down.

Currently, Smith holds the WBO interim champion status in his division, and winning the fight would make Benavidez the WBC champion, plus the WBO interim and WBA [Regular] champion. Then, when Bivol is done with his Beterbiev fight late in the year, he would have no other choice than to give the deserving Benavidez a fair shot at his IBF, WBA, and WBO titles. Clearing that level would make Benavidez the undisputed champion at 175 pounds. Moving forward from there, he could vacate his titles, move down to his previous weight class, and challenge Canelo for a fight. But, what if the latter still denies a fight? “If they [Bivol or Canelo] don’t fight me after that [I win the WBO interim title], then there’s not really much to say…I don’t want to say people are ducking me. But at the end of the day, if you’re getting the most [money] you’ve ever made your whole career, and supposedly I’m an easy fighter you could come beat—then why aren’t you doing it?” declared Benavidez.

Openly dropping that challenge to Canelo once again, Benavidez fueled their ongoing rivalry, only with the former always uninterested in reigniting it in the same way. Especially with the Terence Crawford fight coming up on September 13, it’s likely that the best boxer in this generation would just ignore David Benavidez like it’s white noise. But, could it be that Alvarez is actually ducking him? The hosts told Benavidez that Crawford was on their podcast, too. And when asked about the undefeated champ, Bud just exclaimed that Benavidez was a huge dude, and he wouldn’t want to fight that. Which makes it clear that Benavidez is, in fact, a deserving candidate for fighting Canelo. Because Crawford, by the way, is a pound-for-pound No.3 on ESPN’s current list. So, if ducking is the case, it would make sense for The Monster Bandera Roja to fight Callum Smith next. And take the longer route.

Smith’s earlier thumbs-up for a David Benavidez matchup

To take a peep into the near past, it would make sense to consider Callum Smith’s previous stance on fighting Benavidez. Since things looked to be positive back in March this year, Eddie Hearn, who promotes both the boxers, confirmed through Boxing Scene that “We’ve had some conversations around Benavidez-Callum Smith.” At the time, Hearn was planning the Morrell bout for Benavidez, which he went ahead with. But, now that it’s done, Smith can surely be the next target.

Echoing the same response, Smith sounded hopeful about a future fight when he appeared on the Toe2Toe podcast days after Hearn’s announcement. “He’s [Benavidez is] getting better and better. He’s shown he wants to fight anyone, regardless of who. If that fight is offered and it makes sense, then definitely. Further down the line, maybe it could be a unification fight,” said Mundo. 

So that makes it highly likely that Benavidez would fight Smith next. Especially because negotiations have been ongoing, and both of them would want to make their status stronger by challenging the winners of Artur Beterbiev and Dimitry Bivol. All for dipping their hands in an opportunity to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. What do you think, if a fist-off were to happen, who would win? Would Benavidez’s aggressive style and knockout power take over Smith’s textbook boxing? Or would it be the other way around? Well, that is for when David Benavidez chooses to fight Smith and not Yarde.