Beterbiev Welcomes Fight with Benavidez
In some boxing news, Artur Beterbiev is open to fighting David Benavidez if the latter decides to move up to light heavyweight.
Beterbiev is preparing for Callum Smith on January 13, 2024, as he defends his unified titles (WBO, WBC and IBF). A win takes him one step closer to facing the winner of Dmitry Bivol and Lyndon Arthur. The latter two face off on December 23 2023, on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Saudi Arabia.
Benavidez is currently targeting an undisputed fight against Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican Monster stopped Demetrius Andrade to retain his WBC interim belt. That keeps him in line to fight Canelo on Cinco de Mayo weekend or Mexican Independence Day. But given that Benavidez has expressed his desire to move up to 175, Beterbiev was ready to face him at some point.
Beterbiev On Benavidez
“He can move up, no problem. With me? Of course, if he wants this fight, no problem. Now, I’m only thinking about Callum Smith, but now you ask me about some different fighter. I respect the fighters, but I don’t take them seriously like they’re my next opponent. That’s why I’m smiling,” Beterbiev said
Benavidez is a massive 168-pounder, showing that a move up to 175 makes sense. But there are question marks over whether he could take the power. Beterbiev has a hundred percent knockout rate, stopping all of his 19 opponents. But at the age of 38, Beterbiev is entering into the tail-end of his career.
His fight against Anthony Yarde showed that. Despite knocking him out, the Brit landed on Beterbiev numerous times. If Benavidez were to do the same, there is a chance he could get stopped, given the Mexican’s heavy hands. Benavidez recalls sparring with Dmitry Bivol, the WBA light heavyweight champion. After that experience, the Mexican admitted that he got the better of him.
Benavidez On Bivol
“I definitely want to go up to 175. [And] I know I can win a belt at 175, because of the sparring. I know a lot of people saw the video of me saying I’d knock Bivol out. I mean, I would. I’m not going to lie. Every professional boxer at this level should have that much confidence in themselves. I’m not lying about anything. I sparred him at Churchill Boxing. There were a lot of people there. They seen what happened there,” Benavidez stated
If Benavidez does become undisputed at 168 and move up to fight either Bivol or Beterbiev, provided they have all the belts, the Mexican could become a two-weight undisputed champion. He would join Terence Crawford as the only man to do so. That would make the Mexican the best of his era at 168 and 175, making him one of the greatest ever. But before he can think about that, the focus will be on Canelo. And there is no getting away from that.
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