Plenty of fans can’t wait to see David Benavidez back in action. Benavidez, who was last seen defeating David Morrell in a good, exciting fight earlier this year, is waiting to see how the rubber match between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev plays out, with “The Mexican Monster” aching for a shot at either modern great.
In the meantime, Benavidez, 30-0(24) wants to stay active, and he seems close to a fight with a British warrior next – either Callum Smith or Anthony Yarde. As he said when speaking on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, 28 year old Benavidez said he and his team are working on a fight with either Smith or Yarde, most likely Smith.
And as Smith holds the WBO interim strap at 175 pounds, Benavidez feels a win over him would get him “one step closer to fight these guys,” meaning of course the Beterbiev-Bivol winner.
“Right now, we’re thinking about either Callum Smith or Anthony Yarde,” Benavidez said. “Obviously, those are the two top guys in that division. More likely Callum Smith. We’re kind of thinking about making that fight happen here in the US. And then, that’s also going to put me one step closer to fighting these guys (Bivol and Beterbiev), because I have the WBA [title at 175] – I’m the world champion at WBC – and then, after I beat Callum Smith, I’ll have the WBO.”
Smith, 31-2(22) proved his warrior heart in his recent win over Joshua Buatsi, this a win that saw him pick up the WBO interim belt. Together, as plenty of fans have said, along with the two fighters themselves, Benavidez and Smith could give us a great action slugfest.
Here’s hoping it happens. It’s refreshing that a warrior like Benavidez, who could so easily sit around and wait for his shot at the full world title, is instead looking to stay active, and in doing so is willing to rumble with a dangerous guy like Smith.
35 year old Smith may well have to look at going to America for the fight, but this wouldn’t faze him. Again, let’s hope the powers that be can get us the Benavidez-Smith fight this year. Benavidez would be my pick to win, but it could – in fact, almost certainly would – prove to be a real war for as long as it lasted.