David Benavidez is no doubt a beneficiary of the battle between Zuffa Boxing and the sport’s major sanctioning bodies.
The WBC made the rare move of ordering its cruiserweight champion, Noel Mikaelian, to defend his championship against the WBA and WBO unified titlist Benavidez on Friday, according to a ruling obtained by Uncrowned.
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“The WBC has received a letter from [Benavidez’s] promoter with the petition to mandate WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian to make his first mandatory defense against WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez,” a WBC statement read.
“The WBC Board has voted in favor to order cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian to fight mandatorily David Benavidez.”
Ordering a reigning champion to face another titlist is an uncommon occurrence in world-level boxing, although there is precedent for it in the women’s side of the sport, where sanctioning bodies have previously ordered unification fights. One such example came in November 2022 when the WBA called for its champion, Erika Cruz, to face Amanda Serrano, who held the other three belts in the division.
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Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs) was finalizing a deal to defend his crown against the ex-IBF champion Jai Opetaia next. The WBC’s order of Mikaelian-Benavidez presents a stumbling block for Opetaia and the plans of his promoter, Zuffa Boxing, as well as putting Benavidez just one belt away from becoming an undisputed champion at cruiserweight should he defeat Mikaelian.
Opetaia’s former world title, the now-vacant IBF belt, will be contested by No. 2 contender Viddal Riley and the winner of the IBF’s upcoming No. 1 contender Trans-Tasman clash between Floyd Masson and David Nyika in the coming months.
Benavidez, a three-division champion, formerly held the WBC title at super middleweight. He obliterated Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez earlier in May to capture two cruiserweight championships.
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