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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Josh Taylor is being lined up to make the delayed defence if his WBA and IBF super-lightweight titles against Apinun Khongsong in September in London.
Taylor looks likely to be one of the headliners when BT Sport unveils the second wave of its behind-closed-doors shows, as they seek to bring more high-level stars to the shows.
So far, Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions have staged three shows at the BT Studios in the Olympic Park in East London. The fourth show features Carl Frampton and Michael Conlan in separate fights on Saturday, while Daniel Dubois takes on Erik Pfeifer on August 28.
Two shows are being lined up for September, likely to be on September 12 and 26. The two boxers set to headline are Taylor and world-ranked light-heavyweight Anthony Yarde. With Yarde still booked to face Lyndon Arthur at the O2 Arena on October 24, it seems probably that Yarde will headline the earlier date.
Taylor had been due to face Khongsong, his IBF mandatory from Thailand, in Glasgow in May, until the bill was scrapped by the coronavirus pandemic.
He is being lined for a four-title match with Jose Ramirez, the WBC and WBO champion, who puts those titles on the line against Viktor Postol on August 29 in Las Vegas.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for Boxing Scene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.
