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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Matchroom head Eddie Hearn took a moment during the DAZN stream of the card topped by Kieron Conway-George Lillard to promote some future fights.
“Announced tonight, Stockton’s own Gabe Flores will fight Joe Cordina,” Hearn told DAZN. “[It] will basically take the winner to number one, and face the winner, in my opinion, of Sam Noakes versus Abdullah Mason.”
The matchup in question will appear on the undercard of Diego Pacheco-Kevin Sajdo, which is headlining a Matchroom card at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, California on December 13. Hearn hopes that Pacheco, 24, will be the future of a top-heavy 168lbs division.
Flores, 27-2 (8 KOs), is a 25-year-old indeed born in Stockton and living in Las Vegas. Since losing two of three fights in a window from November 2021 to July 2022 – wide 10-round unanimous decisions to Giovanni Cabrera and Luis Alberto Lopez – Flores has won six straight. The 18-1 (9 KOs) Cordina, born and residing in Cardiff, Wales, suffered his lone loss by way of stoppage to Anthony Cacace in May 2024. The 33-year-old two-time world champion bounced back with a unanimous decision over Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz.
Neither is held in as high regard as the red-hot prospect in Mason, the prodigious 21-year-old American whose heavy hands have finished all but two opponents on his 19-0 record. Noakes, a 28-year-old Brit, is also undefeated at 17-0 (15 KOs). The two will face off on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde’s light heavyweight clash.
Hearn also announced that Skye Nicolson will feature on the December 13 undercard – a Matchroom Instagram post revealed that she will fight the 17-4 (2 KOs) Rhonda Luna. Nicolson, 14-1 (3 KOs), had barely lost a round with her low-risk style of jabbing, moving, and countering before falling in a close, rough scrap to Tiara Brown in March. She has since moved down from 126lbs to 122 and scored two stoppage victories.
“I can’t wait,” Nicolson said on the DAZN broadcast. “My first real fight, I feel, at 122, and I’m so excited for it.” Nicolson expressed interest in a future undisputed clash with Ellie Scotney.
Ernesto “Tito” Mercado and Antonio Moran will feature on the undercard as well. Moran, a 31-7-1 (21 KOs) Mexican veteran, will be fighting for the first time since his high-action, controversial unanimous decision win over Mykquan Williams in Philadelphia in April. Mercado is a 23-year-old American with a record of 17-0 (16 KOs).
Cesar Vaco, who is a 19-2-1 junior featherweight from Mexico, meets countryman Arturo Cardenas, who is 16-0-1 (9 KOs) on the show..
“Stockton is gonna be wild on December 13,” Hearn said.
