David Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr, has named one, hard-hitting world champion that his son is ‘guaranteed’ to face in due course.
The 29-year-old claimed a destructive seventh-round stoppage victory over Anthony Yarde in November, making the first defence of his WBC light-heavyweight title.
Prior to that, Benavidez secured convincing points wins against David Morrell and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, both of them at 175lbs, after moving up from super-middleweight.
But since his triumph over Yarde, the American seems to have placed himself in pole position for a shot at Gilberto Ramirez, the unified cruiserweight world champion, this coming May.
While an announcement for that particular contest is yet to emerge, Benavidez has already outlined his plan to move up to 200lbs and then face either Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev at light-heavyweight.
Unified world champion Bivol is also expected to return to action later this year, most likely against IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifert, following his majority decision victory over Beterbiev in February 2025.
But while Ramirez, Bivol and Beterbiev are firmly on his radar, Benavidez could equally lock horns with IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia down the line.
Speaking with MillCity Boxing, Jose Benavidez highlights Opetaia as a solid opponent but doubts that he is more ‘dangerous’ than Bivol or Beterbiev.
“I don’t think Opetaia’s more dangerous than Beterbiev [or] Bivol, but that’s a fighter [we’re interested in] fighting.
I think he’s a good fighter, like I would say [about] Morrell, Anthony Yarde, ‘Boo Boo’ [Demetrius Andrade]… [But] he doesn’t have the experience.
In all of his fights he gets stumbled, he gets hurt. I don’t think he has the experience that all these other guys have.
Eventually, I guarantee you that we are going to face him. [But] do you guys think he’s better than Beterbiev [or] Bivol?”
While having outpointed Mairis Briedis on two separate occasions, Opetaia is yet to face any other fighter that has established himself at world level.
This, however, could change soon enough, especially if the 30-year-old’s new promoter, Zuffa Boxing, is able to deliver an undisputed cruiserweight fight down the line.
