David Benavidez is viewed as one of the most fearsome punchers in boxing right now.
Benavidez holds a current undefeated record of 29-0, with 24 of those victories coming by knockout, explaining just why he has earned the nickname ‘The Mexican Monster.’
He is the reigning interim WBC light-heavyweight champion, having captured the belt in his 175lb debut back in June with a unanimous decision victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
That win over Gvozdyk came after an extremely successful stint at 168lbs, where he became a two-time WBC super-middleweight champion, defeating the likes of Caleb Plant, David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrell along the way.
One man he never got the opportunity to face though was Canelo Alvarez, despite spending years campaigning for a showdown against the pound-for-pound king.
Benavidez returns in February to take on WBA regular light-heavyweight champion David Morrell, where a victory could pave the way for a showdown against either Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol.
Despite some of the big names mentioned, Benavidez didn’t name any of them as fighters who he feels could beat him, telling Fighthype that the only man in boxing he thinks he would struggle against is current unified heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
“To be honest with you I have to deal with these monsters in this weight class first.
Usyk? I don’t think I have enough experience to go up against Usyk. I’m just being 100% honest, but like you say never say never!”
The likelihood of seeing Benavidez at heavyweight is extremely low, but he hasn’t ruled out going up to cruiserweight, where Usyk himself could be set for a move back to in the near future, after a reigning world champion offered a Ukrainian a historic world title shot.
