David Benavidez says he’ll be fighting Callum Smith or Anthony Yarde next. He’s leaning toward facing Smith because he holds the WBO interim light heavyweight title. Benavidez (30, 24 KOs) feels that he needs that belt to help box in the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev 3 trilogy to face him.
David Benavidez already holds the WBC and WBA ‘regular’ 175-lb title, but he wants another belt to help pressure whoever emerges victorious in the Bivol-Beterbiev trilogy clash.
Benavidez’s Next Opponent Plans
“Right now, we’re thinking about Callum Smith or Anthony Yarde. Obviously, those are the two top guys in that division,” said David Benavidez to the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry YouTube channel.
Smith and Yarde are two top fighters, but not THE two top guys below Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. There’s still David Morrell there. I doubt either of those guys would beat Morrell. Benavidez is focused on trying to force the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev trilogy fight to face him next. However, that will require Turki Alalshikh’s involvement.
Bivol already showed that he’s willing to sacrifice a title to swerve Benavidez and if he did it once, he might do it again. It’s a bad style match-up for Bivol to face ‘The Mexican Monster,’ and he’s not a spring chicken at 34.
We saw how Bivol crumbled in the 12th round in his rematch with Beterbiev last February when Artur suddenly went all out with his pressure for the first time in the fight. The way Beterbiev waited until the 12th to finally out Bivol under the gun looked suspicious to some fans on X. They felt that Artur held back because he didn’t want to win the fight.
If he had, there wouldn’t have been a lucrative trilogy match, and he’d have shot himself in the foot. The way Bivol crumbled in those three minutes of pressure made it clear that he would be easy prey for the younger, high-pressure style of Benavidez.
It wouldn’t matter how much running Bivol did, Benavidez would track him down, overwhelm him with volume, and bag the victory. That’s why it’s very possible Bivol will vacate again or retire rather than fight ‘The Mexican Monster’ and wind up getting knocked out for the first time in his career.
Why Bivol May Avoid Benavidez
“We’re thinking about making that fight happen in the U.S. That’s going to put me one step closer to fighting these guys because I have the WBA interim, I’m the world champion at the WBC. Then, after I beat Callum Smith, I’ll have the WBO [interim],” said Benavidez.
It seems like Benavidez is worried about stuff he has no control over. He should assume that Bivol will avoid him again, because he’s already shown he wants no part of fighting him. Why should Benavidez expect anything different? He should hope that Beterbiev wins, because he’s courageous enough to fight him. However, if Turki decides he wants to see a fourth Bivol vs. Beterbiev, there’s not much Benavidez can do about it. He might want to consider moving up to cruiserweight and going after champion Jai Opetaia, because he would fight him.
“So, then if they [Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol] don’t fight me after that, there’s not really much to say. I don’t want to say people are ducking me, but if you’re getting the most you’ve ever made in your career. And supposedly, I’m an easy fighter to beat, then why are you doing it?” said Benavidez.
Bivol and Beterbiev are pretty old, and they’ll be wealthy enough to retire without needing the extra money that a clash against Benavidez would bring in. They’ll probably vacate if Turki doesn’t want to finance a fight between Benavidez and the Bivol vs. Beterbiev winner. They’re not going to want to take a considerable pay cut fighting Benavidez, which would be a harder fight for them. They reportedly got $10 million each for their rematch last February.
Without Turki’s involvement, they would have gotten far less. Again, these are older fighters. Going up against a young lion like Benavidez wouldn’t be ideal. The 40-year-old Beterbiev looked like he had lost a few steps from his first fight with Bivol. Dmitry is just a pure runner now, and he doesn’t have enough left in the tank to battle a young pressure fighter like Benavidez.
Last Updated on 05/23/2025
