David Benavidez is on a mission to become the pound-for-pound king and will no doubt be in that conversation if he is able to capture the undisputed cruiserweight title, and he has now named his three-man hit list as he seeks to announce himself as ‘the face of boxing’.
A three-division world champion, Benavidez has maintained his undefeated record whilst accelerating through the weight divisions, but looks to have settled as a cruiserweight after a dominant win over unified world champion Gilberto Ramirez earlier this year.
Benavidez now holds the WBA (Super) and WBO marbles in the 200lb division and is set for a unification showdown against WBC titleholder Michal Cieslak in December.
Should he be successful, ‘The Mexican Monster’ is expected to pursue the remaining IBF world title, which could be in the hands of cruiserweight rival Jai Opetaia, if the Aussie’s ongoing lawsuit against the sanctioning body results in him being reinstated as their champion.
Speaking to the Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer, Benavidez revealed that Opetaia is indeed the first name on the three-man hit list that will come with his new three-deal contract, along with Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Usyk.
“So, the Beterbiev fight, we are talking about that fight in this next contract. I am going to sign a three-deal contract after this fight [against Cieslak] and those are Opetaia, Beterbiev and then we are maybe talking about Usyk.
“But, those fights are at cruiserweight and then I am a little bit confused for the one involving Usyk because that might either be at cruiserweight or heavyweight.
“Those are three great fights that need to happen and they are going to happen. I am not just sat here saying that I am going to fight these guys and I am never going to fight them, I am going to fight these guys because these are the guys that I want to fight.
“I want to fight Opetaia, I want Beterbiev and I want Usyk.”
Should Opetaia not regain his position as the IBF cruiserweight world champion, it is understood that Viddal Riley and David Nyika could compete for the vacant title in early 2027, providing Riley comes through Seydi Coupe unscathed next month.
As for Beterbiev, he hasn’t fought since his February 2025 defeat to countryman Dmitry Bivol, while Usyk is currently planning his next move after his win over Rico Verhoeven in May.
