David Benavidez is set to compete in a three-belt cruiserweight unification clash in December, but now one sanctioning body is seeking clarity on which division ‘The Mexican Monster’ seeks to remain at.
Benavidez moved up to light-heavyweight back in 2024 and he defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk on his divisional debut to get his hands on the WBC interim title, then capturing the WBA (Regular) title at 175lbs with a win over David Morrell in the fight that followed.
The Phoenix fan-favourite was then elevated to full WBC light-heavyweight world champion and he defended both that and his WBA Regular title against Anthony Yarde, before moving up to cruiserweight this year and halting Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez to capture the WBA (Super) and WBO 200lb world titles.
Now, it is believed that Benavidez has u-turned on plans to return to light-heavyweight, in favour of making the switch to cruiserweight a permanent one – opening the door for two Brits to potentially compete for the WBC 175lb world title.
With that in mind, the WBA have today requested official confirmation from Benavidez as ‘to clarify which title he intends to continue campaigning for’, presumably to allow them to strip him of the WBA (Regular) light-heavyweight title in the near future.
The WBA Championship Committee has requested David Benavidez to clarify which title he intends to continue campaigning for, following his achievement of becoming a champion in two weight classes, holding the WBA Cruiserweight and Light Heavyweight titles.
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) September 22, 2026
“The WBA Championship Committee has requested David Benavidez to clarify which title he intends to continue campaigning for, following his achievement of becoming a champion in two weight classes, holding the WBA Cruiserweight and Light Heavyweight titles.”
Venezuela’s Albert Ramirez currently holds the WBA Interim light-heavyweight title and could soon be elevated into position as the new WBA (Regular) titleholder, should the WBA wish to extinguish their interim belt at 175lbs.
