David Benavidez looked invincible, but can he get the fight against Canelo Alvarez?

LAS VEGAS — Fight after fight, David Benavidez asked, lobbied and outright demanded that boxing’s biggest star finally meet him in the ring.

With a brutal beating of Demetrius Andrade on Saturday at Mandalay Bay, Benavidez made his biggest statement yet: He wants – and deserves – to win the Canelo Alvarez contest.

Of course, that depends on Alvarez. He’s taking the lead, and he’ll decide who he fights on Cinco De Mayo weekend in 2024. But if Benavidez and Andrade were fighting for a spot at the greatest of all time, Benavidez loudly grabbed the brass ring on both hands.

Andrade entered the fight undefeated as one of boxing’s most avoided fighters, but he was no match for the “Mexican Monster,” who floored Andrade in the fourth round, bloodying him and quit when he didn’t come out for round 7.

“For Canelo and everyone, it just shows that I’m not kidding,” Benavidez said at the post-fight press conference.

With each passing fight, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO) has improved by leaps and bounds. In March, Benavidez faced his toughest test in Caleb Plant and after losing much of the first half of the fight, he broke Plant in the second half to earn a clear decision victory.

Against arguably a better fighter in Andrade, Benavidez lost the first two rounds on all three scorecards, then broke through with a brutal right hand that dropped Andrade in round 4.

Benavidez, 26, cut across the ring and relentlessly pressured Andrade for the next two rounds, landing ill-intentioned shots that left Andrade coughing up blood.

Alvarez has repeatedly said fighters need to have a chance against him. It’s just. After all, he’s boxing’s biggest star. But if that performance wasn’t enough to entice Alvarez to face Benavidez, maybe nothing will.

“I’ve won the fights I’m supposed to win fantastically,” Benavidez said. “[Alvarez] There’s no one else to fight with.”

Of course, Alvarez can always choose to fight Jermall Charlo, who ended a 29-month absence from the chief support fight with a unanimous decision victory over Benavidez’s older brother, Jose Benavidez Jr. Charlo was the Alvarez’s initial opponent in September, but Charlo withdrew to deal with personal issues. His twin brother Jermell Charlo took his place in this fight and was defeated. Alvarez can now revisit the Jermall fight. Charlo admitted he was “rusty” in tonight’s fight. He also hasn’t had a notable victory in well over two and a half years.

But it is Benavidez who is in the spotlight. He became a star in his own right.

He was ignored by promoters and even Top Rank, who signed Jose. But on Friday, there was a long line to get into the weigh-in to watch Benavidez prepare for Andrade, and a packed crowd awaited every powerful punch that brought their man ever closer to his dream fight with Alvarez.

“I always knew I was going to get to this moment…,” an emotional Benavidez said after headlining his second pay-per-view fight in Las Vegas. “I can’t let any of my people down. They’re so supportive that failure isn’t an option. And I feel like I’m in my prime now and I’m going to keep pushing. improve more and more… .

“I’ll fight anyone. Canelo is an option but if he doesn’t want to fight me, I want to beat everyone. That’s the main thing.”