David Benavidez is aiming to take over boxing over the next 12 months, but two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi believes there is one fighter he would favour to hand ‘The Mexican Monster’ his first defeat.
Benavidez made the 25lb jump up from light-heavyweight to cruiserweight and knocked out unified WBA and WBO world champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in a performance of the year candidate back in May.
Now, he looks set to challenge newly-crowned WBC ruler Michal Cieslak in a three-belt unification bout in December, with the victor of that contest mandated to take on cruiserweight poster boy, Jai Opetaia.
Speaking to BoxingScene, Malignaggi admitted that Benavidez’s showing against Ramirez enhanced his interest in a possible clash with Opetaia.
“I think that this is a very tough fight to call, this is very, very difficult. Benavidez’s performance against Zurdo put me on a different level as far as going from ‘I don’t know if he can compete with a cruiserweight as big as Opetaia’ to ‘OK, he can compete with Opetaia’.
“Now, winning? I don’t know. I don’t take it as a foregone conclusion. I do think that it is now a competitive fight to where I want to see it, whereas before it was like ‘nah, you are just going to get a really good fighter like Benavidez hurt if you make him fight too heavy, and that is not fair’.”
Malignaggi would lean towards Opetaia if he were to meet the ‘The Mexican Monster’ in the ring.
“I would probably still edge Opetaia slightly, but it’s not something that would shock me if Benavidez is not only competitive but possibly wins the fight. But, it’s not one of those fights that I look at and say ‘I am changing my pick and I am picking Benavidez,’. I think that’s way too soon, man.”
Benavidez-Cieslak is expected to take place on Saturday, December 12, in Phoenix, Arizona, where a victory for the 29-year-old could tee up a 2027 Cinco De Mayo meeting with Australia’s Opetaia.
