David Benavídez clears up doubts about his next rival
The main option for David Benavídez in his return to the ring points to a unification duel against the WBC monarch at cruiserweight
The Mexican-American boxer David Benavídez has designed a strategy for his next engagement in the ring.
The current world champion seeks to unify crowns in the cruiserweight division before sitting down to negotiate the renewal of his working relationship with the promotion company Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).
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This planning seeks to optimize the value of your active titles before taking on the most physically demanding challenges of the season. The fighter's camp has the priority of consolidating his status at 200 pounds before committing to long-term commercial agreements.
The panorama in the cruiserweight category
The athlete has just recorded a victory via technical knockout in the sixth round against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez from Sinaloa last May. With this victory, David Benavídez was crowned champion in three different weight categories by taking over the belts of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Despite successfully entering the 200-pound weight class, the boxer maintains the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight championship under his ownership. This dual condition gives him the possibility of alternating defenses in both divisions according to the priorities established by his coaching team.
The possible unification confrontation against Mikaelian
The main option for David Benavídez in his return to the ring is a unification duel against the WBC cruiserweight monarch, Noel Mikaelian. Although there were reports of previous negotiations between Mikaelian and Jai Opetaia, the appointment of Benavídez as mandatory challenger by the organization modified the competitive calendar.
David Benavídez's contractual outlook adds an element of analysis for making business decisions at this stage of his professional career. In a conversation with interviewer Luis Parra, the boxer detailed the reasons why he prefers to manage the level of his immediate opponents in detail. "Right now I have to be very smart with my fights, because this is the last fight of my contract with PBC. I am negotiating a new contract. I don't want to have the most difficult fight in the last fight of my contract," he explained in the aforementioned interview.
The goal of adding three belts in the 200-pound category represents a financial negotiation platform for the company led by Al Haymon. Regarding this plan, the fighter stated in his dialogue with Luis Parra that he seeks to maximize the value of his status as an active monarch before signing a new agreement. "What I'm going to do is fight another cruiserweight champion, and after winning that fight, I will have a world title at light heavyweight and three titles at cruiserweight. That gives me more negotiating power to get a more lucrative contract," the athlete said.
Long-term projections at 175 pounds
After resolving this commitment at cruiserweight and defining his new employment agreement, the fighter's corner does not rule out an eventual return of David Benavídez to 175 pounds. The team's interest remains focused on seeking a total unification fight against the current undisputed light heavyweight champion, the Russian Dmitry Bivol.
However, the viability of carrying out this confrontation will depend on compliance with the mandatory defenses of each organization and the development of the work tables in the promoting offices.
If the current championships are maintained in the light heavyweight sector, managers estimate that the clash of styles could be explored during the 2027 season.

