David Benavidez has named a legendary world champion who he recognises has made him the fighter he is today.
The 29-year-old from Arizona has emerged as one of the biggest stars in boxing over the last couple of years, winning world titles at both super-middleweight and light-heavyweight during his career to date.
‘The Mexican Monster’ was last in action back in November, when he stopped Britain’s Anthony Yarde in the 7th round of their clash in Riyadh, successfully defending his WBC light-heavyweight title for the first time.
It has been suggested that Benavidez will make the move up to cruiserweight next to challenge unified WBA and WBO world champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. It would be another impressive step in a career that has had no slip-ups so far – perhaps not a surprise for a man who has been sparring world class operators since he was 15.
In an interview with The Ring Magazine, Benavidez spoke fondly of former world middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin, saying the Kazakh great is the reason why he is the ‘fighter he is today’.
“I give Gennadiy Golovkin all of the credit he deserves because he’s the reason why I am the fighter that I am today.
“When I was sparring him, those were real fights. He would push me to new levels, so I would have to find different ways to get out of the way because he was punching with everything. He made me learn more and raised my IQ, just by being in there with him. Hats off to Golovkin.
“He’s a great man and a great champion, inside and outside the ring. I owe him a lot. I learned a lot from him. I am the fighter I am today because of those sparring sessions.”
At the height of his professional career, Golovkin was widely considered to be one of, if not the most feared fighter on the planet. The 43-year-old has held the unified middleweight titles on two occasions, racking up wins over the likes of Kell Brook and Danny Jacobs.
Whilst he is yet to make a return to action since suffering the second defeat of his career to Canelo Alvarez back in 2022, ‘GGG’ is yet to officially retire from the sport, leaving the door open for a potential return in the future, though it looks less and less likely as time goes on.
