David Benavidez has no shortage of HUGE fights on his radar. In an exclusive interview with BoxingScene, Jose Benavidez Sr. makes it clear that David still wants the biggest names at 175lbs including Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. Benavidez has previously said those are two fights he wants to make as he pursues more titles and major challenges. But there’s another name that could make things very interesting: Andy Ruiz Jr. Jose discusses the possibility of an all-Mexican showdown between Benavidez and the former heavyweight champion, along with David’s plans across multiple divisions. And with a potential Jai Opetaia showdown also building after the pair came face-to-face following Opetaia’s latest victory, Benavidez has some massive options ahead.
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An angry Games and Amusements Board chairman Eric Buhain is hell-bent in cracking down on anomalies in boxing in the wake of criticism over rampant mismatches and fighters continuing to sneak out of the country to fight abroad without official GAB approval.
In the latest incident Buhain said he had discovered that boxing judge Romy Yulo, a longtime associate of Lope “Jun” Sarreal had accompanied boxer Rene Banares to the airport when he left for Bangkok along with Joan De Guia and Celso Danggod, two boxers of barangay chairman Victor Olanday of Alabang, Muntinlupa who were cleared to fight.
Banares who was not officially cleared by the GAB to fight veteran world champion Ratanachai Sor Vorapin was stopped in two rounds in a blatant mismatch. Ratanachai had a record of 71-9 with 47 knockouts while Banares, according to the GAB boxing division itself had a record of 12-14- 4 with only 3 knockouts. Besides, Banares is listed as a super flyweight (115 lbs) while Ratanachai is a super bantamweight (122 lbs).
Buhain discovered that Banares was a substitite for Ariel Delgado who fought and won in the main event of the weekly boxing show "In This Corner" last September 30 beating Edgar Gabejan in a bloody ten round super bantamweight battle.
On the other hand De Guia who had a record of 7-6-2 with no knockouts was knocked out in the third round by Sod Looknongyangtoy, a southpaw with a record of 32-2 with 13 knockouts in another mismatch. However, GAB boxing division chief Dr. Nasser Cruz defended the clearance given De Guia by claiming he had met the requirement of winning two of his last five fights. However, Dr, Cruz clearly never took into consideration the quality and records of the fighters he beat and the boxers he lost to despite constant criticism of the obviously faulty system.
Buhain informed Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that he had summoned Yulo to report to the GAB on October 18 and disclosed that De Guia and Celso Danggod had told him that Yulo accompanied Banares. The two fighters also revealed that “they did not know Banares would go with them until they arrived at the airport.”
Buhain has threatened to suspend Banares from anywhere between two to five years and promised “to tell the whole world” about the suspension which would effectively end his career. However, Buhain indicated that the only way Banares could clear himself of the mess is to reveal the truth about who arranged for his fight and how he fought in Thailand without GAB clearance.
