David Benavidez has named the fighter whose movement, fundamentals and defensive prowess would cause him the most problems of any potential rival.
Up to this point, the ‘Mexican Monster’ has maintained an unbeaten record while becoming a three-division world champion, with many also regarding him as one of the top pound-for-pound operators.
It could be said, too, that the 29-year-old is coming off a career-best performance against Gilberto Ramirez, who he dethroned with an emphatic sixth-round finish in May.
Now holding the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles, Benavidez’s next outing is expected to be a three-belt unification match with WBC champion Michal Cieslak on December 5.
If he emerges victorious, the Mexican-American could then end up facing Jai Opetaia, his closest cruiserweight rival, on Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2027.
When considering his toughest possible opponent, though, Benavidez told Inside The Ring that it would have to be former undisputed light-heavyweight king Dmitry Bivol, who is set to defend his world titles against Callum Smith on December 12.
“I’ll be 100% honest with you: the hardest challenge out of any of those fighters is Bivol. Bivol, all-around, is a great fighter. He has great movement, great fundamentals, great defence – so that, in my opinion, would be the hardest fight of all of them.
“But they’re all good fighters [who have] got knockout power and great technique and great skills, so each one of them would be an extremely hard fight.”
Even with them now campaigning in different weight classes, Benavidez still views Bivol as his biggest potential challenge – more so, even, than moving up to heavyweight and facing Oleksandr Usyk.
