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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Kenshiro Teraji once again put to rest any rumors of his struggling to make the junior flyweight limit.
The reigning lineal, WBC and WBA junior flyweight champion has been under the 108-pound divisional limit for every title fight spanning two title reigns. Teraji continued that streak as he hit the scales at a finely-tuned 107.4 pounds for the fourth defense of his current reign versus Venezuela’s Carlos Canizales, who was 107 ½ pounds.
Their scheduled twelve-round championship clash airs live on Amazon Prime-Japan and ESPN+ in the U.S. this Tuesday from EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan.
Kyoto’s Teraji (22-1, 14KOs) has openly discussed the possibility of moving up to flyweight if he is unable to further unify the junior flyweight division. For now, he is the true champ at 108, a distinction cemented in his November 2022 eighth-round knockout of countryman Hiroto Kyoguchi in their all-Japanese WBC/WBA unification bout.
The bout marks Teraji’s fifteenth career title fight in just 24 pro bouts. He held the WBC title from May 2017 through his September 2021 upset tenth-round stoppage defeat to Masamichi Yabuki in his Kyoto hometown. The same locale hosted their March 2022 rematch, won by Teraji via third-round knockout. Following the win over Kyoguchi, Teraji’s 2023 campaign saw a pair of ninth-round knockouts over unbeaten Anthony Olascuaga and former two-division titlist Hekkie Budler.
Canizales (26-1-1, 19KOs) makes his second attempt at a full title. His previous bid ended in a twelve-round draw versus then-WBA junior flyweight titlist Ryoichi Taguchi in their 2016 New Year’s Eve clash in Tokyo.
Tuesday marks his third career trip to Japan. His debut in-country began his WBA ‘Regular’ junior flyweight title reign with a March 2018 twelve-round, unanimous decision over unbeaten Reiya Konishi in Kobe, Japan. Two defenses followed before Canizales suffered a stunning sixth-round knockout defeat to Esteban Bermudez in their May 2021 clash in Mexico City.
Four wins have followed for Canizales, including a technical decision victory over unbeaten Daniel Matellon to become the WBA mandatory last June 9 on the road in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The show’s second major title fight pits Azerbaijan-born, Ukraine-based WBA flyweight titlist Artem Dalakian (22-0, 15KOs) in a scheduled twelve-round, mandatory title defense versus Seigo Yuri Akui (18-2-1, 11KOs).
Dalakian was well under the limit at 111.1 pounds for the seventh defense of the WBA flyweight strap he’s held since February 2018. Kurashiki’s Akui weighed right at the 112-pound flyweight limit for his first career title fight.
Also on the undercard, celebrated kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa (2-0, 0KOs) continues his pro boxing journey versus Mexico City’s Luis Robles (15-2-1, 5KOs). Nasukawa was 120 ¾ pounds, while Robles weighed 119 ½ pounds for their scheduled eight-round bout.
All three pro fights thus far for Nasukawa have come on the undercard of a Teraji title fight.
Opening the four-fight stream, Yuki Yonaha (13-5-1, 8KOs) and Osaka’s Juiki Tatsuyoshi (14-0-1, 10KOs) meet in a domestic battle scheduled for eight rounds just above the bantamweight limit. Tatsoyoshi was 119 ½ pounds, while Yonaha was 120 pounds.
Tatsuyoshi is the son of Joichiro Tatsuyoshi (20-7-1, 14KOs), a wildly popular former two-time WBC bantamweight champion during the 1990s.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox
