David Benavidez held the interim WBC light heavyweight title for almost 10 months. Now, he has finally ascended to full champion status in the weight class. Albeit, not by winning a match. After defeating David Morrell on February 1, 2025, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the 28-year-old successfully defended his interim title and became the next in line—a mandatory challenger for Dmitry Bivol’s WBC title.
The WBC had ordered Bivol to come to a purse agreement with Benavidez by April 8 or risk being stripped of the title. The Russian boxer chose the latter. He reluctantly vacated his title, thereby preventing those plans from ever materializing. Thus, in the end, the sanctioning body handed over the WBC title to Benavidez. “I just received the news that Bivol decided to vacate his title rather than fight me. This now makes me the WBC light heavyweight world champion. This isn’t the ideal way for me to become a world champion, but now that I am, I intend to deliver the best fights possible,” David Benavidez captioned his post on Instagram while holding the green and gold WBC belt. However, he isn’t one to mope about not getting a chance to fight Dmitry Bivol.
As the new WBC champion, David Benavidez is confidently planning his next moves. “Me and my team went out there to, they had talked to Turki Alalshikh,” Benavidez stated in a conversation with FightHype yesterday. “They want to do the third fight,” Benavidez lamented on Bivol choosing a trilogy match with Artur Beterbiev instead of fighting him.
“But then we also have the number one spot…We’re able to control a lot of stuff. We’re able to negotiate right now, so we’re going to see what happens,” David Benavidez asserted, putting his foot down. However, ‘The Mexican Monster’ explained that there is no ill will when it comes to His Excellency Turki Alalshikh backing the trilogy.
If the opportunity arrives, he’ll be happy to jump in on one of their undercard fights as well. “It was dope to see him [Turki Alalshikh], because you know, he’s doing a lot of great stuff for boxing. Hopefully, we’re trying to be put on that too. So get the fans the best fight,” he added.
There could be multiple reasons for the Russian boxer’s resistance to defending his title against the young champion. There are the financial and legacy benefits of the Artur Beterbiev fight, and the obvious risk of losing his IBF, WBA, and WBO belts. There is also the added incentive of boxing fans wanting to see the two complete their trilogy. Even if Dmitry Bivol refuses to give Benavidez an appointment to meet in the ring, “The Mexican Monster” has his set of options ready, considering the boost he received from becoming the WBC light heavyweight champion.
Talking about best fights, there are some opponents that particularly stand out while Benavidez decides who to take on next.
Plans lined up next for David Benavidez
“The Red Flag” has been vocal about wanting to fight notable names like Canelo Alvarez forever now. Despite his efforts, Alvarez went with other opponents like Terence Crawford (who is coming up from a lighter weight class). The fight, therefore remains elusive, with no official reports that suggest otherwise.
In fact, Alvarez had dismissed Benavidez. He called out his lack of any major accomplishments and his disrespectful behavior as reasons to shove off the fight. He is currently preparing for his match against William Scull on May 3, 2025. Apart from that, Benavidez has his eyes on a potential unification bout against the winner, after the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight around October this year. Nevertheless, the new champion cannot just wait around until then.
If all goes well, David Benavidez can expect his first title defense against Callum Smith, the WBO’s interim light heavyweight champion. Even Smith’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has agreed to a potential fight between the two. And if it so happens, and Benavidez manages to win the fight, this will put him at the top of the WBO, thereby incentivizing his run for an undisputed title clash with the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol 2.
Who do you want to see David Benavidez fight next?
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