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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By Edward Chaykovsky
WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal has a firm goal of capturing a world title after rebuilding his career.
As BoxingScene.com previously reported a few days ago, Pascal will return to the ring on December 16th at Le Cabaret Amphithéâtre Cogeco in Trois-Rivières, Canada. The opponent has yet to be finalized.
Pascal (30-4-1, 17KOs), 34 years old, was last in the ring back in January, when he was battered over seven rounds in his rematch with Sergey Kovalev.
Pascal is still very eager to fight and the desire to be champion again is driving him forward. He wants to fight at least three times in 2017.
“It’s not for my ego. It’s not for the money. I love boxing and I love my fans,” Pascal said to the Montreal Gazette. “When I went for groceries people were asking me, ‘when are you coming back?’ Boxing’s a passion for me.
“Honestly, I’m still aiming for the peak of the mountain. To be back on top and to be world champion for the third time. My goal is to rebuild myself, try to become world champion.”
Canadian trainer Stephan Larouche, who took over for Freddie Roach, says he is going to take things very slow with Pascal to rebuild him properly.
“He has experience and has to use it to his advantage,” Larouche said. “He has to fight with his experience, his knowledge, with his strengths. Jean’s very emotional in the ring. He wants to dominate all the time. When it doesn’t go his way, sometimes he gets a little bit upset. He has good timing, eyes and reflexes. But he’s kind of unpredictable.
“One step at a time. He hasn’t fought for 11 months. We’re going back to the fundamentals. Get some wins and then we’ll make some plans. I think he has the potential but, you’ve seen over the weekend how strong it is. The calibre’s pretty high in the light-heavyweight division.”
