Abel Sanchez Questions David Benavidez Fighting Cieslak Instead of Elite Opposition
Trainer Abel Sanchez says David Benavidez needs to stop calling out unknown fighters and start eliminating top contenders.
David Benavidez spent years chasing Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds and never got the fight. Now renowned trainer Abel Sanchez thinks Benavidez is making the same mistake at cruiserweight.
Benavidez is scheduled to face Michal Cieslak for a WBC title at cruiserweight, and Sanchez is not impressed with the matchmaking. The trainer, best known for his work with Gennady Golovkin, questioned why Benavidez would take on a fighter with limited name recognition instead of pursuing the division's top names.
"He's fighting somebody that nobody knows," Sanchez said. "He's got to start to eliminate these guys. He can't keep going calling guys out."
The criticism carries weight given Benavidez's career arc. At super middleweight, he was the most avoided contender in the division, waiting on a Canelo fight that never materialized while his prime ticked away. Sanchez argues that repeating this pattern at cruiserweight, collecting belts against lesser opponents instead of chasing Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev, would be a waste of Benavidez's considerable talent.
Adding to the complications, a potential fight with Jai Opetaia remains uncertain due to sanctioning issues connected to Opetaia's Zuffa Boxing signing.
Benavidez has the size, the power, and the resume to compete with anyone in the 200-pound division. The question Sanchez is asking is whether he will actually do it before the window closes.
Abel Sanchez is not wrong. David Benavidez has all the tools to be a problem at cruiserweight, and fighting Michal Cieslak does nothing to prove that. I like Benavidez. I think he is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing. But the Canelo saga should have taught him a lesson about waiting around.
Here is the thing: Benavidez cannot control what the sanctioning bodies do. The Opetaia fight is stuck in Zuffa limbo and Bivol is in a different orbit. But you have to force the issue. Go out there, demolish Cieslak, then call out everyone by name and refuse to take no for an answer.
The cruiserweight division is wide open right now. If Benavidez sits back and picks safe fights, he is going to end up like he did at 168, the best fighter nobody wanted to face but who never got the signature win to match the hype. Do not let that happen again.
