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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Anthony Cuba was thrown in tough for his second pro fight and was fortunate to have not suffered his first defeat in the process.
Diego Elizondo provided a stiff challenge for the 18-year old rookie lightweight and was unfortunate to have to settle for a four-round majority draw Saturday evening at Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
Judge Dr. Lou Moret—who has been a problem ever since boxing returned following the pandemic—had the bout 39-37 in favor of Cuba. His card was overruled by matching scores of 38-38 turned in by judges Rudy Barragan and Zachary Young.
Elizondo landed the more telling blows throughout the four-round affair, though Cuba was not without his moments. The teenaged prodigy bit down and connected with right hands against his aggressive opponent, who frequently scored with straight lefts and uppercuts from the southpaw stance.
Cuba moves to 1-0-1 (1KO), having turned pro on the undercard of Gervonta Davis’ 6th round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz in their two-division title fight last Halloween in San Antonio, Texas.
Elizondo has endured hard luck in just three-plus years as a pro. The 22-year old from Carson City, Nevada is now 3-2-3 (0KOs), with all of his career blemishes coming in his past six starts. All eight pro bouts for Elizondo have gone to the scorecards, with each of his last six having been decided by two points or less. The lone two lopsided affairs came in back-to-back shutout wins over Chandler Clements to start his career.
The bout aired live on FS2, due to a preceding NASCAR event running long on FS1. The fight served as the televised opener to the preliminary undercard headlined by Miami’s Michel Rivera (19-0, 12KOs) in a scheduled eight-round welterweight bout versus Anthony Mercardo Raices.
Headlining the overall event, Anthony Dirrell faces Kyrone Davis in a scheduled 12-round WBC super middleweight semifinal eliminator.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
