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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Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia has openly discussed his frustrations with a delayed ring return.
As BoxingScene.com previously reported, Golden Boy Promotions were putting together a show for July 4 in Indio, California - headlined by Garcia.
But the event is not going to take place, at least not with Garcia on top.
According to Garcia, DAZN is not offering up the necessary funds to make that card happen - and they are also not allowing him to fight anywhere else, which is due to the streaming service's exclusive contract with Golden Boy.
Garcia was in action back in February, when he scored a sensational first round knockout over Francisco Fonseca.
There were plans in motion for Garcia to face former world champion Jorge Linares in the summer, before the coronavirus pandemic put that scenario on hold.
According to Garcia, his fight in July fell through because DAZN was only willing to offer $200,000.
“That’s bulls-t,” Garcia said to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “Why am I being held back financially? What is the problem here? Why is DAZN giving out big numbers to guys fighting nobodies? It’s f--ked up how I’m being treated. I’m not asking for $100 million. Just give me the check I deserve. How am I one of the biggest fighters in the world and I get bigger paychecks outside of boxing?
“I’m not saying anything about Golden Boy. I’m not going to worry about what Golden Boy is doing right now. I just want my direct line. I’m tired of going through middle men. DAZN needs to call me. I need to hear from them why stuff can’t happen. You have Shakur Stevenson going on [Tuesday] night. Why is ESPN going and not me?”
Garcia wants to discuss the money directly with DAZN, instead of going through Golden Boy. DAZN has a contractual agreement with Golden Boy, not Garcia.
Golden Boy President Eric Gomez explained to Mannix that Garcia was going to be paid above his contract minimum for the July 4 return. Because of the current event restrictions, which rule out a live audience, Gomez indicates that Golden Boy is unable to meet Garcia's monetary demands.
“We are exclusive to DAZN and Ryan is exclusive to us,” Gomez said. “We’re living in a pandemic. There are some real hard times out there. It’s arguably the worst financial downfall since the Great Depression. Ryan’s next show is not going to have any fans. His gate is significant. But he wasn’t asked to take a pay cut. In the contract that we recently signed, we were going to pay him above his minimum for this next fight.”
