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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IBF Championship Committee Chairman Lindsey Tucker says that a rematch between Vic Darchinyan and Z “The Dream” Gorres is unlikely following their controversial draw in a title eliminator in Cebu City last Saturday.
Tucker told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that “the last thing I wanted was for the fight to end in a draw” pointing out that it was “too late to hold another eliminator.” There was the added problem of Gorres suffering a nasty gash on his forehead due to an accidental head-butt which required four stitches after the fight.
The IBF official said they must “notify Dimitri Kirilov (the champion) of the leading available contender the first week of March so that he can start on his mandatory defense.
Based on the latest IBF ratings no fighter is rated No.1 or 2 while the highest-rated fighter at present is Martin Castillo at No.3 followed by Thailand’s Pramuansak Posuwan, Darchinyan, Gorres, Jorge Arce, AJ “:Bazooka” Banal, Jose Navarro and Diosdado Gabi.
Youthful Michael Aldeguer who has assumed the mantle of his father, longtime boxing patron Tony Aldeguer, said “right now we will have to wait for the IBF decision.”
Aldeguer said that promoter Gary Shaw who handles Darchinyan said before he left for the US on Sunday night that he would file a protest with the IBF but many boxing people doubted he would come up with the required $20,000 filing fee.
Shaw wants to capitalize on the cut suffered by Gorres claiming he is hurt and Darchinyan “is ready to go” which may convince the IBF to allow Darchinyan to fight Kirilov for the interim title with the winner giving Gorres a mandatory shot.
Since the Gorres-Darchinyan fight was a title eliminator with the winner to fight KIrilov, Shaw is banking on the fact that the fight ended in a draw and since Gorres is injured and Darchinyan is not, he should be given a crack at the champion and none of the others rated higher than him such as Castillo and Posuwan since they were not in the equation to begin with.
