{"id":431617,"date":"2026-02-18T03:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/431617\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T03:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:57:07","slug":"david-benavidez-names-the-heavyweight-he-wants-to-fight-if-he-makes-ambitious-move-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/431617\/","title":{"rendered":"David Benavidez names the heavyweight he wants to fight if he makes ambitious move up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/boxer\/david-benavidez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David Benavidez<\/a> has not ruled out an audacious move up to heavyweight, naming a formidable assignment that he believes could materialise down the line.<\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old must first take care of business in his next outing, which is expected to arrive in May, after having defended his WBC light-heavyweight strap with a <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/news\/benavidez-vs-yarde-norman-vs-haney-live\/#:~:text=This%20is%20a%20Boxing%20News,official%20score%20from%20the%20judges.&amp;text=Result%3A%20David%20Benavidez%20stops%20Anthony,shown%20for%20the%20other&#039;s%20power.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">seventh-round finish over Anthony Yarde<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It was his third fight at 175lbs that saw Benavidez cement himself as a two-division world champion in November, utilising his blistering hand speed and strong fundamentals to decisively break down Yarde.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the American has called out the likes of unified world light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, but is instead set to face Gilberto Ramirez later this year.<\/p>\n<p>The unified world cruiserweight champion comes off a unanimous decision victory over Yuniel Dorticos in June, which followed his more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/boxing\/articles\/cy8nlpeww9go\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">dominant display against Chris Billam-Smith<\/a> towards the end of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>With Ramirez\u2019s WBO and WBA titles up for grabs, Benavidez should therefore have the opportunity to become a three-division world champion at 200lbs before long.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, though, \u2018The Mexican Monster\u2019 has expressed his interest in a possible clash with bona fide heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk, believing he has the frame to compete in the highest weight division.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/2xJpMtB0olg?si=G-pK5Kn9utRXQMhn\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Power 106 Los Angeles<\/a>, Benavidez confirmed his respect for the Ukrainian while, at the same time, highlighting him as a potential opponent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsyk\u2019s a great fighter. If I were to go up to heavyweight in the future, I would be really interested [in fighting Usyk].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Usyk currently holds the WBC, IBF and WBA titles, after relinquishing his WBO strap in the wake of Fabio Wardley\u2019s 11th-round stoppage victory over Joseph Parker in October.<\/p>\n<p>Though it is not the first time Benavidez, 29, has teased a move to boxing\u2019s top division, he has plenty of time to make it happen. The reality, therefore, is that Usyk may have called time on his career by that point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Benavidez has not ruled out an audacious move up to heavyweight, naming a formidable assignment that he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-431617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}