David Benavidez believes the greatest fighter of all time remains active to this very day.
The 28-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona is unbeaten as a professional, capturing world titles across two weight divisions since his professional debut back in 2013.
‘The Monster’ is a former two-time WBC world super-middleweight champion, with his initial reign coming between 2017 and 2018, before he eventually re-captured the vacant title a year later when he defeated Anthony Dirrell via ninth round stoppage.
He made the move up to light-heavyweight last year after he failed to secure a showdown with Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez, winning the WBC Interim title with a unanimous decision victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
After he was declared the mandatory to Dmitry Bivol’s WBC crown, Benavidez was gearing up to challenge the former undisputed light-heavyweight champion before the Russian star opted to vacate the title, paving the way for the 28-year-old to be elevated to full champion in April.
Despite not making his first defence of the belt yet, he already has eyes on moving up to cruiserweight and has even teased a heavyweight campaign in the past.
In an interview with Fight Hype, Benavidez paid homage to Ukrainian master Oleksandr Usyk, who he claims is ‘the greatest fighter of all time’.
“Usyk? I don’t think I have enough experience to go up against Usyk. I’m just being 100% honest. Like you say never say never, maybe in the future, maybe in 5 or 6 years but by then Usyk will be 40 something or even older. I have tremendous respect for Usyk and he’s the greatest of all time.”
Usyk made history last May when he defeated Tyson Fury to become the very first undisputed heavyweight champion of the ‘four belt era,’ having already held all titles at cruiserweight.
The 38-year-old is now in preparations to face Britain’s Daniel Dubois for a second time, as he bids to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion in what would be a perfect victory for the unbeaten Ukrainian to bow out on.
