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.
Terrell Gausha, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, is looking to spoil the recent success of Carlos Adames, who was elevated from WBC interim champion to full titleholder after Jermall Charlo had another run-in with the law.
Gausha will face Adames on the undercard of a double-header pay-per-view on June 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main events will feature Gervonta Davis versus Frank Martin in a WBA lightweight fight and David Benavidez versus Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC interim light heavyweight title.
Gausha (24-3-1, 12 KOs) is confident in his new weight class, the middleweight division. The 36-year-old spent most of the past decade fighting at junior middleweight and struggled against top opposition. He lost to Erislandy Lara in a title bout in 2017, Erickson Lubin in 2020, and Tim Tszyu in 2022. Gausha enters the bout on a two-fight win streak, but his majority decision win over KeAndrae Leatherwood in his last middleweight fight might raise some eyebrows.
“I’m more comfortable now at middleweight,” said Gausha. “I can just focus on training, because I’m already on weight. I don’t make any excuses, but getting down to 154 put more wear and tear on my body.”
Adames (23-1, 18 KOs) only fought once in both 2022 and 2023, respectively stopping Juan Macias Montiel former junior middleweight champion, Julian Williams. The 30-year-old wil have been out of the ring for nearly a whole year by the time he enters to defend his WBC middleweight title.
“Carlos Adames is a very solid fighter who brings a lot to the table,” said Gausha. “Everyone has holes and I’ve been watching him since I moved up to middleweight. I know he brings the action and I’ve been preparing for a fight like this.”
Gausha has never been stopped as a professional and Adames has stopped three of his last four opponents. Adames lone non-knockout in that spell was a majority decision victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in a ten-round fight in 2021, the toughest fight of his career outside of his loss to former titleholder Patrick Teixeira at junior middleweight.
“I’m one of the type of guys that you can’t just run over,” said Gausha. “I’m the easiest person to make a fight with, because I don’t fear anybody.”
“I fight the best. That’s what I do. We’ll see come June 15 who the best is. Styles make fights. I don’t fear him and he doesn’t fear me. That’s gonna make it an exciting fight for the fans.”
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