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
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25KOs) is going to keep a close eye on the winner of Saturday's fight between Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) and WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Brook is still recovering from a fractured orbital bone from his fifth round stoppage loss to middleweight king Gennady Golovkin last month in London.
There is a mandatory defense owed to unbeaten Errol Spence Jr. and the IBF has given him until February 24th to make a decision on whether he intends to remain at 147-pounds and go through with his obligation.
Brook and Vargas were in serious talks to face each other last month, but the Sheffield fighter elected to accept a bigger opportunity with Golovkin.
Based on watching his past performances in the ring, Brook is giving Vargas little to no shot to win the fight.
"Of course I would be interested in the winner [of Pacquiao-Vargas]," Brook told Nick Parkinson. "All the fans were saying I didn't fancy fighting the best fighters, but I have gone in there with the best in the world in Golovkin, and I'm ready to do it again.
"I'm after the biggest and best fights out there, those are the ones that are going to get me up for it. Once you have become world champion, you need special fights to really keep you motivated in training. A world title unification fight would do that. I see Vargas getting some success, but I just think with Pacquiao's experience, having been in with the better opponents, he's going to have too much.
"But I don't see Pacquiao stopping him -- he'll win on points. He's had a lot of time out: is his passion still there? It could catch up with you at that age, so he's got to be careful, and that makes the fight interesting. Vargas is a good fighter -- he's a world champion -- but he's not the best out there. There's not massive margins at this level, but I don't think he's in the super league with the likes of Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and myself. Unless he shows us something I've not see before, I don't see him winning."
Brook is still not 100% on coming back to 147, but he believes that he can still make the weight in a safe manner. For Golovkin he moved up by thirteen pounds and two weight divisions to take the fight.
"My weight has settled down so I could still make welterweight. I've got Spence on the horizon and there's the likes of [WBC champion] Garcia and Amir Khan as well, but I don't know yet," Brook said. "The eye socket is healing well, but I still have some stitches in my mouth where they went into my cheek during the operation.
"I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym and seeing what direction I'm heading in next. I need to make sure my eye is 100 percent before I start doing that. I'm looking at getting back in spring next year."
