David Benavidez is setting his sights on a move up to cruiserweight in the near future.
The 28-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona currently reigns as the WBC world light-heavyweight champion, having held the interim version of the title before he was elevated to full champion earlier this year when Dmitry Bivol opted to vacate his crown in pursuit of a trilogy showdown with Artur Beterbiev.
Benavidez made the move up to 175lbs last year following a successful campaign at super-middleweight, where he held the WBC title on two separate occasions, defeating the likes of Anthony Dirrell, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.
With reports circulating that ‘The Monster’ is considering a move up to cruiserweight at some stage, the 28-year-old spoke out on a social media post recently to express his desire in a showdown with reigning IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
“Let’s make this fight happen!”
Despite showing his willingness to lock horns with the unbeaten Opetaia, Benavidez revealed in a separate interview with Fight Hype that he wouldn’t back himself in a potential match-up at 200lbs against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who was said to be thinking about making the move back down to cruiserweight before the end of his career.
“To be honest with you I have to deal with these monsters in this weight class first.
Usyk [at cruiserweight]? 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.”
‘The Monster’ is expected to make the maiden defence of his WBC light-heavyweight title later this year, with Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde emerging as potential opponents for the 28-year-old.
