For the better part of the past year, Jermall Charlo has vacillated between moving up in weight to face David Benavidez or remain at 160 pounds. Although the truculent WBC middleweight titlist has continued to brazenly call out his budding rival, he hasn't been totally committed to the idea.

Benavidez, of course, has embraced the perpetual trash talk of Charlo and has urged him to hasten his move to the super middleweight division. Ultimately, despite Charlo’s need to rip Benavidez in the public eye, a showdown between them has failed to materialize.

While Benavidez remains committed to facing Charlo, the former two-time super middleweight champion has a strong hunch as to why they have yet to square off.  

“Because Charlo’s a p---- that’s why,” said Benavidez on The Last Stand with Brian Custer. “He don’t want to fight.”

In spite of his disappointment reaching an all-time high, Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) was all smiles when he was initially given the news. At some point in the first quarter of the new year, the 26-year-old will take on Caleb Plant. The winner of their impending showdown, as stated by the WBC sanctioning body, will move into the mandatory position to face current undisputed kingpin, Canelo Alvarez.

Plant, after losing via 11th-round stoppage at the hands of Alvarez in November of 2021, is anxious to exact his revenge. With a devastating knockout victory over Anthony Dirrell in his return bout, Plant is beaming with confidence.

But while both Benavidez and Plant continue to move their careers forward, Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) is at a standstill. Following his closer-than-expected unanimous decision victory over Juan Macias Montiel in June of 2021, the hard-hitting star has remained sequestered on the sidelines due to a nagging back injury and personal issues.

Still, regardless of his inactivity, Benavidez believes that a matchup against Charlo is one that boxing fans would thoroughly enjoy. More importantly, considering the pot of gold that could be at the end of the rainbow, Benavidez is hopeful that they’ll eventually tango.

“It’s a very big fight and the winner of that fight would get Canelo.”