David Benavidez has been asked to defend his WBC world title against a fighter who could eclipse his fierce finishes.
The 28-year-old managed to retain his light heavyweight title against Anthony Yarde last month, stopping the courageous Briton with a fierce attack in the seventh round.
This was Benavidez’s first world title defense at 175 pounds, which he made several months after being elevated from “interim” to “full” WBC champion.
Before Dmitry Bivol vacated his green and gold belt, Benavidez, a former super middleweight world champion, had racked up impressive wins over David Morrell and Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
However, it was the American’s dominant performance against Yarde that reminded fans of not only his blazing hand speed and huge gas tank, but also his powerful repertoire of attacks.
Since then, Benavidez has flirted with the idea of ​​moving up to cruiserweight, aiming for a potential clash with unified world champion Gilberto Ramirez in May.
If he wants to stay at light heavyweight, former undisputed king Artur Beterbiev would be only too eager to try to reclaim his old title.
After stopping each of his previous 20 opponents, the prolific knockout artist captured his undisputed crown with a points victory over Bivol last year.
It was then in February this year that Beterbiev lost his rematch by the same margin on the judges’ scorecards, with both fighters having stayed out of the ring since their second encounter.
Speaking at a press conference last week, Beterbiev, 40, insisted that while pursuing a trilogy with Bivol, who still holds three of the four major titles, he also wants to explore a possible fight against Benavidez.
“I watched some highlights. [Benavidez] did a good job [against Yarde]. Of course I want to fight with Benavidez. It’s very important for me to win back my titles.
