Robert Garcia Says David Benavidez Beats Oleksandr Usyk in Two Years

Garcia believes Usyk’s age could eventually shift a future heavyweight fight toward Benavidez

Robert Garcia believes David Benavidez could eventually defeat Oleksandr Usyk if the two meet at heavyweight in the future. Garcia pointed to Usyk’s age and suggested the matchup would favor Benavidez more strongly two years from now.

Benavidez jumped directly to cruiserweight earlier this month and immediately captured the WBA and WBO titles by stopping Gilberto Ramirez in six rounds. The performance fueled immediate speculation about whether Benavidez could eventually continue climbing divisions toward heavyweight.

“I think that Benavidez beats Usyk two years from now,” Garcia said. “[Usyk is nearly 40 already], so imagine two years from now, Benavidez beats him,” Garcia told ESNEWS.

The prediction quickly sparked debate among fans because Garcia is not talking about the current version of Usyk. Two years from now, the unified heavyweight champion would likely be 41 years old, assuming he is still fighting at all.

Usyk is scheduled to face Rico Verhoeven later this month and has repeatedly said he plans to fight only a few more times before retiring. If he follows through on that timeline, he could already be out of the sport before a Benavidez fight would realistically happen.

Garcia’s prediction also assumes Usyk remains active long enough to wait for the fight while heavyweight contenders continue lining up for mandatory title opportunities. Sanctioning bodies could easily force Usyk into other defenses long before a two-year Benavidez plan ever becomes realistic.

Two years is a lifetime in boxing, especially for a champion who already has one foot out the door.

The heavyweight division could also look completely different two years from now. Fighters like Moses Itauma are already sitting near the top of multiple sanctioning-body rankings, and many fans believe a younger generation could control several heavyweight titles by the time a theoretical Benavidez-Usyk fight would even become possible.

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