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 Rick Reeno
The stage has been set for a rematch between the two men regarded as the top welterweights of our sport. When Antonio Margarito stopped Miguel Cotto on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams and his trainer/manager George Peterson, were more than thrilled with the end result.
According to Peterson, the probability of landing a unification fight with Cotto, had he won, was very low. Bob Arum was planning to go in two directions if Cotto had pulled off the win. The first was a possible December fight with Oscar De La Hoya. If a De La Hoya deal fell apart, Arum was already talking about a unification fight with Joshua Clottey in Puerto Rico [if Clottey went on to beat Zab Judah on August 2 for the vacant title].
Since Williams beat Margarito in 2007 with a close, but unanimous, twelve-round decision, Peterson says a potential rematch with the "Tijuana Tornado" is a realistic possibility. Peterson believes that Williams would stop Margarito in the rematch.
"Paul would beat Margarito for a third time. The first time he beat him up during training camp [referring to their infamous sparring session], the second time he beat him in a sanctioned bout. The third time he wouldn’t just beat him, he would knock Margarito out. They say Margarito has never been knocked out, well Paul would knock him out if they fight again,” Peterson would tell BoxingScene.com
"None of these guys want to fight Paul. When he beat Margarito, they pretended like Paul didn't exist. He knocks out Quintana in one-round and they still pretend like he doesn't exist. Margarito wants to be the best, let him fight Paul and lets find out who is the best welterweight in the world."
Talks are still ongoing for Williams to face Winky Wright at 160-pounds, but Peterson reveals that nothing is close to signed.
