David Benavidez believes one of the sport’s flagship champions is actively avoiding him, claiming there were “plenty of opportunities” for this fight to happen.

The WBC lithe heavyweight champion is widely regarded as a top 10 pound-for-pound operator capable of significantly enhancing his legacy over the next few years.

The next opportunity to do so will come on May 2, when Benavidez will try to become a three-division world champion against WBO and WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez.

Regardless of the result this weekend, the 29-year-old said he will drop down to 175 pounds and enter an undisputed fight with Dmitry Bivol.

The unified lithe heavyweight champion is preparing to defend his titles against mandatory challenger Michael Eifert, who will headline the event at the UMMC Arena in Russia on May 30.

This is his first appearance since defeating Artur Beterbiev in a direct rematch, where Bivol took revenge by majority vote in February 2025.

If he wants to become a two-time undisputed king, the 35-year-old will eventually have to face Benavidez, who insists he defeated their sparring session about eight years ago.

By that time, both fighters had already played multiple rounds, and Benavidez had said Ariel Helwani that Bivol emerged from the last sparring session with significantly less confidence.

“They can say whatever they want… He felt my power up close and personal. I felt his power up close and personal too, but I overcame it. I won better in our last sparring session.”

“I won’t let it go to my head because I know I have to come extremely prepared, but that’s how I feel [sparring session] somehow it stuck in his head.

“We had a lot of opportunities to make this fight happen, but it didn’t happen, so I think that speaks for itself.”

Benavidez was promoted from “interim” to full WBC champion after Bivol vacated the belt last year, but that was mainly due to the Russian having to undergo back surgery.

Last July, Morrell was scheduled to face Smith for the WBO interim lightweight heavyweight title. Since then, the fight has dragged on through lengthy negotiations, a delayed announcement and then a cancellation when Smith pulled out of the scheduled April 18 fight due to injury. No replacement date confirmed.

This is a classic move to save your career by David Morrell. While the path to the WBO interim title with Callum Smith looked good on paper, the reality, with drawn-out negotiations, Smith’s injury-forced withdrawal from the April 18 event and zero clarity about a reschedule, quickly became a trap.

For a 28-year-old Morrell player who should be successful, waiting forever is a form of professional suicide. He is coming off a win over Imam Khataev and should be aiming for significant fights at 175 pounds. Instead, almost a year passed with no real progress. Mandatory positions can support a challenger, but they can also stall a career when the other side can’t move.

Chelli provides Morrell with rounds, classes and a paycheck, but it’s not a destination. This is a sign that Smith’s route has become unreliable.

Smith may still return this year and the WBO may still maintain order, but Morrell cannot spend his prime months on paperwork and recovery schedules that are not his own. Players lose more than dates when they remain idle. In a crowded division, they lose visibility, timing and position.

May 9 isn’t so much about Zak Chelli as it is about Morrell refusing to let 2026 slip away while others were deciding his next move.

This weekend, Naoya Inoue will fight the iconic fight with Junto Nakatani, which will be the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing. After this potentially legacy-defining fight, “The Monster” wants another huge fight.

Inoue ruled in four weight classes and if she was successful, she was linked with a featherweight debut on Saturday, he defended his undisputed super bantamweight crown against Nakatani.

However, the 32-year-old revealed that his bout with Nakatani will be his second to last at 122 pounds and he plans to stay at heavyweight for one more fight in the division, even though it looks like he’s already gotten over it.

As a result, there have been rumors that Inoue could face unified super flyweight champion and fellow pound-for-pound star Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – who makes his bantamweight debut against Antonio Vargas in June – before moving up to featherweight and being out of the Texan’s reach.

In the game of “yes or no” with DAZN BoxingInoue confirmed his interest in a fight with Rodriguez and boldly predicted that he would win against the undefeated 26-year-old southerner.

“Yes, [I would love to fight Jesse Rodriguez]”

“[Would I beat him?] Yes.”

Rodriguez will become a three-division champion if he can beat Vargas on Saturday, June 13, but he will usurp Inoue as pound-for-pound king if he were to hand the Japanese sensation the first defeat of his career – provided Nakatani doesn’t do it next Saturday at the Tokyo Dome.

“Bam” Rodriguez also expressed his interest in the fight, saying he would take it without hesitation if one came up. With boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh close to both men, it might just be possible.