One of the most in-demand fights in boxing is a light-heavyweight showdown between unified world champion Dmitry Bivol and pound-for-pound star David Benavidez, and now two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter has shared his thoughts on that proposed clash.
When Benavidez stepped up and challenged for the unified cruiserweight world titles last month, many questioned whether his punch power would translate into the 200lb division, but ‘The Mexican Monster’ soon proved that it did, halting Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez inside six rounds.
Since then, all of the talk has been whether Benavidez could make a return to the light-heavyweight scene and take on Bivol, but suggestions of a catchweight bout have led to concerns as to whether the 29-year-old could indeed step back down to 175lbs.
Speaking on his own podcast, Porter declared that Bivol has the style to hand ‘The Mexican Monster’ a first career defeat, believing that the way to overcome the three-division world champion is to slow him down.
“Bivol was Bivol [against Michael Eifert]. Does Bivol beat David Benavidez? I think that, [even] if sparring went good for David back then, there is still so much to take into consideration, so many things to consider.
“I think that is the style that it takes to beat a Benavidez, or to compete with him, it takes you being fast but also having an amount of power and pop that Benavidez has to be respectful of and be more calculated with.
“If you slow down Benavidez, that gives you more opportunity to beat him.”
Despite the wishes of ‘The Mexican Monster’ to face Bivol, there appears to be stumbling blocks to making the fight, as the WBO have ordered Bivol to defend his world titles against Liverpool’s Callum Smith, whilst a trilogy bout against Artur Beterbiev is also being discussed.
