David Benavidez is already considering what’s next for him in boxing just days after obliterating Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in his cruiserweight debut, and wresting the WBA and WBO world titles from the former champion’s waist in style, thanks to a brutal six-round knockout.
“The Mexican Monster” brings an uncomfortable world of pain for everyone he fights — whether at super middleweight, where he became the youngest 168-pound champion in that division’s history at age 21; at light heavyweight (175 pounds), where he won the WBC world title; or at cruiserweight’s 200 pounds, as he proved this past Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where “Zurdo” was just the latest to wilt under relentless pressure, unconventional volume and combination speed.
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Previously, Benavidez’s story was told in the shadow of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez — a fighter he continually called out for a match that seemed inevitable after Benavidez’s bludgeoning of Caleb Plant in 2023. But “Canelo” dismissed the challenge and never gave him the payday, and so Benavidez took something from “Canelo” without even throwing a punch: This year’s Cinco de Mayo date, one of boxing’s most prized slots.
Speaking to Uncrowned on Tuesday — just three days on from what he described as the most fulfilling victory of his career — Benavidez looked like he had barely been touched.
Naturally, the talk turned to what’s next. There is unfinished business at light heavyweight, he said, plus other challenges at cruiserweight. And the sport’s chief financier, Turki Alalshikh, even lobbed Oleksandr Usyk into the mix at heavyweight.
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“[An Usyk fight] definitely interests me,” Benavidez told “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “A lot of people don’t think I could beat Usyk, but if I put my mind to it, and trained for a year … I could beat anyone in the world.”
Jai Opetaia, the most technically accomplished puncher in the cruiserweight class, is a more realistic target for now, though Benavidez is reluctant to pursue it if the Zuffa Boxing belt is what’s at stake. “I have no interest in that David Benavidez roasts ‘scared’ Canelo Alvarez, sets sights on Dmitry Bivol after Zurdo masterclass,” he said. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I don’t have any interest at all in the Zuffa titles.
“What I’ve been working for my whole life is the WBC, IBF, WBO and WBA — and I’m just going to keep aiming for those titles.”
He’s not convinced the Opetaia fight materializes quickly, either, given Opetaia’s current promotional situation. “That fight can definitely happen, it’s just going to take some time. We’re going to have to have some patience for that fight because there’s a lot of politics involved,” Benavidez said.
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“At the end of the day, what the promotional companies have to realize is they work for us. If we want to make something happen, it’s possible, we can make it happen. We just have to all come to the table. And at the end of the day, it’s not about PBC, it’s not about Zuffa. It’s not about none of them people. It’s about the fighters that have worked our whole lives to get what we want to get, so we deserve these opportunities to fight each other.”
But the fight Benavidez wants most right now is not at cruiserweight at all.
“We’re going after Dmitry Bivol,” Benavidez said. “I won two more titles at cruiserweight and now it’s time to capture the rest of the titles at light heavyweight.”
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Bivol, who fights Michael Eifert in Russia on May 30, has long been in Benavidez’s crosshairs — with talks already underway and a realistic target of getting the fight done before the year is out. “We’re already talking,” Benavidez confirmed. “It will definitely happen by this year.”
Then came the name that always gets brought up.
Following the Ramirez stoppage, Benavidez called out “Canelo.” The Mexican star was ringside earlier that evening for Jaime Munguia’s career-best title win over Armando Reséndiz, but was gone before the main event started.
“I knew this was my big coming out party, and it was a shame ‘Canelo’ wasn’t able to watch the fight there, because he got a little bit scared,” Benavidez said. “I think I might’ve scared him away.
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“He saw Munguia’s fight and just took off.”
The dynamic between the two is loaded with something that goes beyond a simple boxing rivalry, Benavidez believes.
“I think there’s like a civil war between Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Everybody says I’m not Mexican — there’s some people from Mexico, they say I’m not Mexican enough, this and that,” he said. “So there’s just like a rivalry between us — but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t even be like that. At the end of the day, we should just give the fans what they want to see.”
Benavidez has won titles at three weight classes, beaten every meaningful opponent put in front of him, and now holds two world championships at cruiserweight. By most measures, the argument has been made. Whether “Canelo” ever agrees to make it is another matter.
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“I’ve earned [the callout],” he said. “If I don’t get that fight, at least I can talk about it like I’m a bad man. But I don’t think that fight is ever going to happen, to be honest with you.”
Benavidez, it seems, will keep collecting belts in the meantime. And, if “Canelo” ever changes his mind, he knows where to find him.
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