Following an impressive 2026 thus far, David Benavidez’s name has been thrust into the pound-for-pound conversation, and now ‘The Mexican Monster’ has revealed his personal top five active pound-for-pound fighters.
Benavidez moved up from light-heavyweight and made the 25lb leap up to the cruiserweight division in a bid for Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez’s unified WBA and WBO marbles in May, fully intending to return to 175lbs during the aftermath.
Yet, after producing one of the standout performances of the 2026 boxing calendar – knocking Ramirez out in round six to become a three-division world champion – Benavidez has announced his plans to stick around in the cruiserweight division and pursue the undisputed title.
Off the back of that display, Benavidez has risen the pound-for-pound ratings in the eyes of many fans, but the 29-year-old did not include himself when unveiling his own top five, in an interview with ESNews.
“My top five is; [Oleksandr] Usyk, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, [Naoya] Inoue, [Jesse] ‘Bam’ Rodriguez.”
Of the names on that list, only Ryan Garcia has fought more than once this year, having defeated Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title in February, before knocking out Conor Benn to defend the belt last month.
As for Usyk, the Ukrainian heavyweight king looks set to return in 2027 for what could be his final bout, while Haney is scheduled to meet Liam Paro in a welterweight title unification in December.
Meanwhile, Inoue and Rodriguez are being linked to a clash with one another in March and Benavidez went on to declare his shock prediction for the in-demand super-bantamweight showdown.
“That is a great fight, I would just love to watch it. Honestly, I got Bam winning.”
Benavidez will next appear on Saturday, December 5, as he takes part in a cruiserweight title unification against WBC champion Michael Cieslak.
