Artur Beterbiev has not fought since losing his undisputed lightweight heavyweight world title in a rematch with Dmitry Bivol last February. He has now revealed that he has agreed to fight David Benavidez until the latter’s team changes its mind.

Beterbiev became the first undisputed lightweight heavyweight champion of the four-belt era when he overtook Bivol in October 2024but the tables were turned in a rematch four months later when Bivol took the throne.

The pair have since been linked into a trilogy, but many boxing fans are more interested in the fight between Bivol and Benavidez, who currently holds the WBC lightweight heavyweight title and the unified cruiserweight world title.

However, following a recent order from the WBO, it appears that Bivol may fight Liverpool’s Callum Smith instead if he wants to retain the belt before he can move on to a fight with Benavidez or Beterbiev.

As a result, there are suggestions that Benavidez and Beterbiev could meet, with the winner moving on to an undisputed clash with Bivol.

In an interview with Match TVBeterbiev said Benavidez’s team recently rejected the fight, despite previously agreeing to the fight following “The Mexican Monster’s” victory over Anthony Yard in November.

“Benavidez is the kind of person who talks much more than he says. But it must be admitted that it is conducted very competently. He is already world champion in three weight categories, but his boxing is muddy and of course there are questions about some of his victories.

“He had a fight with Anthony Yard and after that fight I agreed to go out with him. Apparently his team didn’t expect me to agree so quickly, so they immediately changed their mind and chose [Zurdo] Ramirez.

“It was a year ago, it has become the norm in boxing – I will box, I won’t, I will choose my opponents – I like this one, I don’t like that one. I have a different mentality – it is foreign to me.”

At 41, Beterbiev is still training, hoping to challenge Bivol for a third time and cement himself as the winner of a trilogy that will be remembered for generations to come.

Tim Bradley often sees Terence Crawford in O’Shaquie Foster. The former two-division world champion Hall of Famer had high praise for Foster when reviewing his recent performance on his YouTube channel, comparing the former WBC super featherweight world champion to one of boxing’s greatest fighters.

“That damn boy O’Shaquie Foster. 2.0 to Crawford. 2.0 Crawford” Bradley said on his channel.

“This kid is bad. He doesn’t have the punching power or killer instinct of Terence Crawford. But damn, he can do it from both ends. He’s glossy on both sides.”

Bradley spent most of his breakdown praising Foster’s in-ring IQ, adaptability and ability to adjust during fights. He believes these traits set Foster apart from many fighters in the division and allow him to control opponents with movement, feints and timing.

“That’s probably boxing IQ, if you can decipher that. And that’s O’Shaquie Foster,” Bradley said.

The praise didn’t end there.

Bradley also discussed a potential fight between O’Shaquie and Shakur Stevenson. The fight has gained increasing interest since Foster challenged Stevenson following his victory over Raymond Ford.

Although Bradley ultimately favors Shakur, he believes O’Shaquie will cause more problems than many fans expect.

“This is the reason I feel this way O’Shaquie is causing some problems for Shakur,Bradley said.

“Do I think he’s going to beat Shakur? No. Hell no. But I think he has a damn good chance of upsetting the apple cart.”

Bradley cited Foster’s experience, versatility and ability to fight from a variety of positions as the reason he thinks the former champion might make Stevenson uncomfortable.

Despite this, Bradley still believes that Stevenson will have the advantage in the fight if the fight is made. He disagrees with the growing belief that O’Shaquie will be completely outclassed.

Bradley’s assessment suggests that Foster’s skills may be good enough to make the potential matchup much more competitive than many fans currently expect.

Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, respected for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fighting landscape. His reports focus on the most critical fights, division development and the most discussed stories in sports.

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Last update: 2026/06/07 at 13:58

Roberto Duran believes his manager forced him into an unfavorable fight shortly after he was seriously injured in a car accident.

The Hall of Famer is perhaps best known for his encounters with Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, whom he fought above his natural weight class of 135 pounds.

Against Leonard, he captured the WBC welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory in 1980, before losing the rematch by eighth-round stoppage later that year.

Duran next faced Hagler and Hearns at middleweight and super welterweight respectively, but suffered back-to-back losses to his fellow champions in 1983 and 1984.

However, the Panamanian particularly excelled at lightweight, winning his first world title with a controversial 13th-round stoppage of Ken Buchanan in 1972.

Duran then defended the WBA title twice he suffered his first defeat against Esteban de Jesuswho went down and passed “Hands of Stone” the same year he won the belt.

While talking to One-on-one boxingHowever, Duran explained that his manager Carlos Eleta was to blame for the unanimous decision loss.

“It was wrong – I’ll tell you why. Carlos Eleta shouldn’t have taken that fight because I had a car accident. I broke my spine [arm] and my mouth was broken.

“I believe Carlos Eleta just wanted money from Roberto Duran. I still had swelling and bleeding in my mouth and my elbow was broken. I still have a hole there [points to right elbow].

“The only good thing Esteban de Jesus did was throw me. When he threw me, I got up and won the fight.

“They gave it to him because then and even today [Madison Square Garden, New York]Puerto Ricans are in power.”

While Duran’s notion of the Puerto Rican’s superiority in Up-to-date York is perhaps far-fetched, he is nevertheless correct that Esteban was unable to defeat a fully functional version of himself.

This was confirmed by an 11th-round rematch victory two years later, and further evidence was Duran’s triumph over Esteban in the 12th round in 1978.