{"id":626825,"date":"2026-06-08T01:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/626825\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T01:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:45:07","slug":"david-benavidez-accused-of-backing-down-from-facing-ko-artist-former-champ-they-changed-their-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/626825\/","title":{"rendered":"David Benavidez accused of backing down from facing KO artist former champ: “They changed their minds”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artur Beterbiev<\/a> has not fought since losing his undisputed light-heavyweight world title in a rematch with Dmitry Bivol last February. He has now revealed that he agreed to a fight with David Benavidez until the latter\u2019s team had a change of heart.<\/p>\n

Beterbiev became the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the four-belt era when he outpointed Bivol in October 2024<\/a>, but the tables were turned in their rematch four months later, as Bivol claimed the throne.<\/p>\n

Ever since, the pair have been linked to a trilogy affair, but many boxing fans seem more interested in a showdown between Bivol and Benavidez, who currently holds the WBC light-heavyweight title as well as the unified cruiserweight world titles.<\/p>\n

However, following the WBO\u2019s recent order, it seems as though Bivol may instead fight Liverpool\u2019s Callum Smith if he wishes to retain that belt before he can pursue a clash with either Benavidez or Beterbiev.<\/p>\n

As a result, there are suggestions that Benavidez and Beterbiev could meet, with the winner moving on to an undisputed clash with Bivol.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Match TV<\/a>, Beterbiev said that Benavidez\u2019s team recently turned that fight down, despite previously agreeing to the bout following \u2018The Mexican Monster\u2019s\u2019 win over Anthony Yarde back in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenavidez is such a person that talks a lot more than he does. But, we must admit that it is very competently conducted. He\u2019s already a three-weight world champion, but his boxing is dirty and, of course, there are questions about some of his victories.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a fight with Anthony Yarde and I agreed to come out with him after that fight. Apparently, his team didn\u2019t expect me to agree so quickly, so they immediately changed their mind and chose [Zurdo] Ramirez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a year ago, in general, this has become the norm in boxing \u2013 I will box, I will not, I will choose my opponents \u2013 I like this one and I don\u2019t like that one. I have a different mentality \u2013 it is alien to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the age of 41, Beterbiev is continuing to train, hopeful of securing the opportunity to take on Bivol for a third time and cement himself as the victor of a trilogy that will be remembered for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artur Beterbiev has not fought since losing his undisputed light-heavyweight world title in a rematch with Dmitry Bivol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-626825","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\/626825","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=626825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}