David Benavidez believes he’s further away from a future fight against Canelo Alvarez with each passing day.

Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) is set to face Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Netflix.

Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, has stiff-armed a bout against Benavidez several times in recent years. That's the case even though Benavidez was once his mandatory challenger and accepted a rehydration clause to quell concerns that he’d be the much bigger man on fight night.

Benavidez, a former two-time 168-pound titleholder, kick-started his run as a light heavyweight in 2024 and already has wins against Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Morrell. He is now preparing to face Anthony Yarde on Nov. 22 to headline a Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia.

Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) and Alvarez are now working with Turki Alalshikh, but even that development hasn’t left Benavidez too optimistic he'll face Alvarez in the future.

“To be honest with you, a fight with me and Canelo will never happen at 168. I wouldn't go back to 168. I am good at 175, and I am a world champion here. So if he wants to come up here to 175, I am all good with that,” Benavidez recently told reporters.

“But I can't live in a fantasy world where maybe I am going to get this fight or that fight. I've done my job to get the fight. It's one of the biggest fights in boxing. But I am not going to waste my time with a person who doesn't want to make a fight happen. I'm trying to fight people who are really trying to fight me.”

Benavidez said that Alalshikh told him that he wants Benavidez to fight Alvarez at the end of the four-fight contract the Mexican star signed earlier this year. Alvarez’s next fight after Crawford will be the third fight of the deal.

“The plan is for me to stay active,” Benavidez said. “I'm still with PBC and Al Haymon, but we are working together [with Alalshikh]. On this side of the street, there is nobody that is going to outprice themselves. You can't over here. Everyone is getting paid well, so I am expecting to get more opportunities and make the biggest fights that I have been chasing.

"We'll see where this leads us, but Nov. 22 against Anthony Yarde is the first step.”

As for the fight between Alvarez and Crawford, after previously giving the betting underdog Crawford a 70% chance to pull off the upset, Benavidez is edging the encounter toward his archival.

“It's a good fight. More like a 60-40 [for Alvarez] because of the weight difference,” Benavidez said. “You can't take Crawford's skills away, though. He's an amazing fighter and technician in the ring.”