The prospect of undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez ever facing David Benavidez has taken a significant body blow with the news that the latter is moving up to light heavyweight for an interim WBC title bout against former champ Oleksandr Gvodzyk.

On Thursday, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman announced that matchup via his official Twitter (X) account.

It’s no secret that Benavidez struggles to make the 168-pound limit and has done for years.

He sacrificed his second WBC title on the scales when he failed to make weight for a defence against Roamer Alexis Angulo in 2020.

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Fans were hoping that Canelo would be matched against Benavidez later this year after the Mexican superstar had faced an as yet unnamed opponent on May 4. However, it looks like Benavidez has run out of patience and will set new goals at the weight above. While it’s always possible that he could come back down in weight for Canelo, that would be an arduous task.

Who is Oleksandr Gvozdyk?
Gvozdyk, who hails from Ukraine, is a former WBC light heavweight champion and a highly adept boxer-puncher.

A bronze medalist at London 2012, Gvozdyk won his first 15 fights as a professional before taking on long reigning champ Adonis Stevenson. The title changed hands in round 11 when the challenger prevailed via knockout.

One successful title defence followed before Gvozdyk was matched against Russian power-puncher and IBF counterpart Artur Beterbiev. It was an competitive battle through the first half, but slowly Beterbiev took over and ultimately forced a 10th-round stoppage.

This defeat triggered a three-and-a-half-year layoff for Gvozdyk and the prevailing wisdom was that he’d retired. However, the ex-champ returned to action in February 2023 and has won three fights in a row, two by knockout.

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Is Canelo fighting David Benavidez in 2024?
In May 2022, Benavidez thrashed former middleweight titleholder David Lemieux to claim the interim WBC 168-pound title. He is currently that organization’s mandatory challenger.

Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC president, discussed Canelo’s obligation at the end of last year. “March 2024 is Benavidez’s deadline, before that no injustice has been done,” he told Pro Box via marca.com.

“Between now and May there are six months to go, so we are in the process, the parties are talking, but Benavidez is definitely the official challenger and the Council is clear in that sense and will carry out the process to make the fight happen.”

Benavidez moving up in weight changes changes the landscape completely.

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Would Canelo beat David Benavidez?
Canelo’s reputation as a superstar would probably see him open as a slight favorite in a super middleweight fight. However, the danger is obvious and Benavidez has an awful lot of backers. It is therefore conceivable that Canelo will be the underdog by fight time.

Benavidez is 6ft 2ins and he’s huge for a 168 pounder. According to CompuBox, the Mexican American is rated sixth for average punch connects per round at 23.5, which puts him ahead of pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue, who clocks in at 21.8.

It’s fair to say that Canelo has the better skillset and defense. However, Benavidez has youth, size, strength and an edge in punching power. Would Canelo be able to thwart the younger man’s aggression? Can Benavidez overcome the Mexican warrior’s experience?

We’ll only find out if and when they meet in the ring