{"id":716154,"date":"2026-06-05T06:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T06:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/716154\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T06:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T06:03:20","slug":"david-benavidez-camp-refutes-artur-beterbiev-talk-of-dodging-megafight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/716154\/","title":{"rendered":"David Benavidez camp refutes Artur Beterbiev talk of dodging megafight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BoxingScene<\/a>Chris Billam-Smith, with target on back, energized by new approach to fight week<\/p>\n

Vazquez, Lugo, Mindoro and Espadas make weight for important ProBoxTV showdowns tomorrow night<\/p>\n

Lamont Roach Jnr-William Zepeda officially confirmed for August 1Peter Fury: Tyson Fury got tactics all wrong against Oleksandr UsykKatie Taylor to say farewell against Flora Pili at Croke Park on September 5Carlos Adames claims two 168 champions have turned him downBruce Carrington understands his role in TNT’s coming ‘The Fight’David Benavidez camp refutes Artur Beterbiev talk of dodging megafight Lupita Medina adds to Most Valuable Promotions’ loaded women’s rosterAnthony Joshua on Jake Paul\u2019s potential career ending broken jaw: \u2018That\u2019s what was asked of me\u2019Ed Pereira still confident of breaking attendance record but ‘if I get 10 people, I’ll be happy’<\/p>\n

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez on Naoya Inoue: ‘Of Course I Feel I Can Win’<\/p>\n

Jesse Bam Rodriguez is confident he can beat Naoya-Inoue<\/p>\n

\"Jesse\"DavidCris Esqueda \/ Golden Boy Promotions\u2514David Benavidez at the media workout for his fight against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez. (April 29, 2026)<\/p>\n

David Benavidez\u2019s team isn\u2019t buying former undisputed light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev\u2019s recounting of conversations to arrange a high-profile showdown between the pound-for-pound members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re lying,\u201d Benavidez\u2019s father-manager-trainer, Jose Benavidez Snr told BoxingScene Thursday. \u201cWe want to fight him. Let\u2019s make that fight happen. Tell the [Beterbiev] manager to contact me, and we will make that fight happen in five minutes. Do you have his manager\u2019s number? Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/p>\n

While Russia\u2019s 41-year-old Beterbiev 21-1 (20 KOs) told Match TV he sought to arrange a fight with Benavidez 32-0 (26 KOs) after the three-division champion from Phoenix defeated Anthony Yarde in November, the Benavidez camp said there was no contact with Beterbiev since their effort to make a match before settling on Yarde.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing happened, but we still want to fight him,\u201d Benavidez Snr said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to fight anybody. If Beterbiev\u2019s ready, let\u2019s make it happen. Who wants to fight? Let\u2019s see. I think they\u2019re all talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beterbiev threw similar accusations in Benavidez\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenavidez is the kind of guy who talks a lot more than he does,\u201d Beterbiev said. \u201cHis team apparently didn\u2019t expect me to agree [to fight him] so quickly [after the Yarde victory], so they immediately changed their mind and chose [Gilberto] Ramirez.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benavidez won that unified cruiserweight title fight by sixth-round stoppage on May 2, then visited Mexico last week to seek a date with WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian.<\/p>\n

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman granted the request and designated Benavidez the mandatory contender Friday minutes after Mikaelian and Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia were reported by BoxingScene to be finalizing a deal to fight.<\/p>\n

If that happens next, Sulaiman said Mikaelian will lose his belt and Benavidez will have the opportunity to win it by facing interim champion Michal Cieslak.<\/p>\n

Benavidez Snr said he\u2019s sought a fight of greater magnitude, contacting the unbeaten and recent IBF cruiserweight champion Opetaia, Zuffa Boxing head Dana White and Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh to no avail over recent weeks.<\/p>\n

A manager of Opetaia contacted Benavidez Snr, but there have been no follow-up conversations.<\/p>\n

As for Beterbiev, he vented that the selective choosing of opposition irritates him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s foreign to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Benavidez Snr said his expectation through the silence has been that Beterbiev most wants a trilogy fight with current three-belt light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol after the pair split their first two fights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to fight anybody to prove David\u2019s the best. Come talk to Benavidez Snr, please,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"MauricioMauricio Sulaiman: David Benavidez fighting for WBC cruiserweight title next\"Benavidez_MikaelianWBC to Noel Mikaelian: Fight David Benavidez next, or else\"Opetaia_Mikaelian\"Jai Opetaia, Noel Mikaelian finalizing Ring cruiserweight showdown\"After\u2018Bivol-Benavidez is the fight to make\u2019 says Eddie Hearn \"ZakZak Chelli wants David Benavidez after stopping David Morrell\"DavidDavid Benavidez\u2019s promoter says fighter \u2018will not wait\u2019 for Dmitry Bivol\"OleksandrFive alive: The P4P king debate runs deeper than you think\"AfterBoxingScene Roundtable: At what weight should David Benavidez fight next?\"DavidDavid Benavidez and trainer will discuss potential Oleksandr Usyk fight\"DavidWho will David Benavidez fight next?David Benavidez camp refutes Artur Beterbiev talk of dodging megafight <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Billam-Smith, with target on back, energized by new approach to fight week Vazquez, Lugo, Mindoro and Espadas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[13042,703,49,48,13038,238237,82],"class_list":["post-716154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-artur-beterbiev","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-david-benavidez","tag-jose-benavidez","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}