Benavidez, Opetaia Agree To Fight

David Benavidez and Jai Opetaia agreed to fight next May after Opetaia stopped Noel Mikaelian in the ninth round Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, capping a dominant performance with a face-off that produced an on-the-spot agreement.

"Let's do it right here next year for Cinco de Mayo," Benavidez

"Done. It's done," Opetaia

"Respect, he's a strong fighter but there can only be one monster. He likes war and I'm the exact same way so it will be one hell of a fight," Benavidez

Benavidez, a former two-time middleweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super middleweight champion and current WBC heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight titleholder, moved up to cruiserweight in his last outing, stopping Gilberto Ramirez in six rounds to claim the WBA and WBO titles.

Benavidez expected to fight again before the end of the year, reportedly against Michal Cieslak in December, in a bout that could carry the vacant WBC cruiserweight title after the sanctioning body declined to put it on the line in the Opetaia-Mikaelian fight.