Former two-time Super middleweight champion David Benavidez is stepping up his game, pulling up to light heavyweight. He will challenge former WBA LHW champ, Oleksandr Gvozdyk in the co-main event of Davis vs Martin at MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Being on the same card as ‘Tank,’ how much will the ‘Mexican Monster’ earn for his LHW debut?
Well, Benavidez commanded a guaranteed salary of $2 million against Demetrius Andrade when they clashed last year in November. According to NyFights, the 27-year-old, considering the current fighter pay trends, is expected to bag around $6 million, PPV shares included.
As for his Ukrainian opponent Gvozdyk, the 37-year-old doesn’t pull the numbers like he used to in his prime. Despite this, he is expected to earn a base salary of $500,000 with an additional $400,000-$500,000 coming in courtesy of the PPV shares.
While Benavidez is clearly the favorite against Gvozdyk with the ability to put anybody’s fuse out courtesy of his bone-crunching power, the veteran is nicknamed ‘The Nail’ for good reasons.
Furthermore, this fight is crucial for Benavidez who is eyeing a clash against Canelo Alvarez.
The ‘Mexican Monster’ went up in weight class in search of newer challenges just because he couldn’t meet Canelo in the ring. Benavidez even criticized Canelo brutally for selling expensive PPVs.
David Benavidez trashes Canelo, mentioning his rapacity
Despite, standing tall with a record of 28-0, there is a fight that has always eluded Benavidez, one that gets him pumped. It’s Canelo Alvarez!
Right now, he is currently the #1 contender in the super-middleweight division, a worthy challenger for the champion. Now, while the champ is ready to meet the 27-year-old in the ring, there’s a catch; Canelo demands a whopping $200 million if he is to step into the ring with the Phoenix native.
This has got the youngster’s blood boiling. During Canelo’s fight against Jaime Munguia, Benavidez who was at ringside did not heed the champ’s face-off call and trashed him for increasing the PPV prices.
According to Marca, Benavidez claimed that the Mexican is actually “disrespecting” the fans, “spitting” on their faces by bumping up the PPV prices. He added more ammunition to his claim by pointing out that Canelo at this point is just after the money and was simply ducking the #1 and #2 challengers in line.
