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 Mark Vester
Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum is attempting to put together an alternative superfight for WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. Unable to reach an agreement with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Arum has set his sights on middleweight Ronald "Winky" Wright, regarded by many as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
According to the John Cotey of the St. Petersburg Times, Arum offered Wright more money than he has ever received for any of his previous fights, if he was willing to meet Margarito in the main event of an October 7 pay-per-view, to take place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Arum is also willing to cut Wright a generous slice of the pay-per-view revenue.
"Originally I was hoping to do Margarito-Mayweather, but Floyd doesn't want any part of Margarito. Then I saw Mayweather, from what I understood, didn't want any part of Winky either. So I figured why the hell not put these guys together. It's a fight I'd want to see," Arum said to the SP Times.
At the present, Wright is unsure about making the fight, due to several factors. He claims the offer received from Arum is not as lucarative as the promoter makes it sound. After staging his last three bouts at the middleweight level of 160 pounds, he is not sure if he wants to move down to 154 pounds to make the fight. Jeff Lacy, a personal friend of Wright, makes his return to the ring on the same day as the proposed Margarito bout. Wright is in no hurry to spoil his friend's return by staging the bout on the same day, and would like to avoid the head-to-head network battle if possibly.
"I wouldn't like that, but if that's the only date, then we'd have to see," Wright said.
