Formerly a bogeyman in the super middleweight division, David Benavidez has become a wanted man since announcing he was fighting at cruiserweight.

After winning the 168- and 175-pound belts, Benavidez made an ambitious jump to the cruiserweight division last month, where he had one of the performances of the year and sent unified WBA and WBO world champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in six rounds.

Now it appears that Benavidez will remain at cruiserweight rather than return to the lightweight heavyweight scene, at least for his next fight.

Despite calls for the 29-year-old to fight Jai Opetaia, the 29-year-old appears to be prioritizing his charge towards the undisputed throne, with a clash with WBC world champion Noel Mikaelian close to finalization. If he wins there, there are more fights in the division, including Opetaia, which is worth mentioning.

After seeing Benavidez make his cruiserweight debut, former WBO world champion Chris Billam-Smith – who lost the belt to Ramirez in 2024 – added his name to the mix, saying: Inside the Ring that the “Mexican Monster” segment may turn out to be a “firefight.”

“Obviously you always wonder how you’re going to beat these kinds of guys, I said before [Zurdo] fight, I said, “if he wins, me against him will be a close fight and very fan-friendly.”

“He’s a fantastic player, obviously he went through the weights and put on a great performance there.”

With Benavidez-Mikaelian appearing to be next, Opetaia will likely be looking to defend his Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight title internally – with Billam-Smith being the standout candidate for the away corner.

With that in mind, “The Gentleman” said he sees the fight with Benavidez as a tougher test than the fight with his promotional stablemate.

“Benavidez would be harder to beat [than Opetaia]for me stylistically.”

The Benavidez-Mikaelian fight is reportedly scheduled for November, with Viddal Riley scheduled to headline Misfits Pro in August before next fighting for the remaining vacant IBF cruiserweight title.

Shakur Stevenson has named the fighter most likely to beat Naoya Inoue, who remains undefeated after becoming the undisputed two-division champion.

“The Monster” unified all four major belts at 118 pounds before moving up to super bantamweight, where he made seven straight defenses of his undisputed crown.

His last fight against three-division world champion Junto Nakatani ended with a unanimous decision victory in a sold-out Tokyo Dome last month.

That’s why many would consider Inoue the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, and the Japanese star has also won world titles at flyweight and super flyweight.

However, at 33 years elderly, it is arduous to predict how long he will remain at an elite level, especially if his next assignment is against Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.

The 26-year-old American became the three-division world champion last week, dethroning Antonio Vargas after a sixth-round stoppage at 118 pounds.

As the newly crowned WBA bantamweight champion, there is now talk of him either unifying the division – perhaps against WBO champion Christian Medina – or moving up to 122 pounds in preparation for a potential showdown with Inoue next year.

Either way, Stevenson said Agnew Podcast that he thinks Rodriguez has the best chance of beating Inoue.

“I think it’s true. If anyone can do it – with that kind of skill, I think ‘Bam’ can do it.”

Stevenson then admitted that in the amateur competition he had the opportunity to experience the fight of his life against Rodriguez’s last opponent.

He ultimately scored a split decision against Vargas, who went on to compete in the 2016 Olympics and showed, even against “Bam,” that he was capable of causing problems for elite fighters.

The DAZN commentator believes the June 27 title fight will determine whether Ennis belongs to the pound-for-pound boxing elite

Todd Grisham believes that Jaron “Boots” Ennis will face the most critical fight of his career on June 27, challenging Xander Zayas. The DAZN commentator said Ennis needs to dominate the unified champion to prove he belongs in the same conversation as Terence Crawford.

“As great as Boots Ennis is, I still don’t think he has the respect of many die-hard boxing fans,” Grisham told DAZN Boxing. “This feels like Boots’ moment. Not only do I think he has to win this fight, but I think he has to dominate, separate himself from Xander Zayas and say, ‘Listen, this guy is not even on my level.’ I’m on Terence Crawford level. This is my level of warrior. “

Ennis (35-0) won two welterweight titles before deciding to pursue greater opportunities at 154 pounds. During the documentary, he revealed that he specifically requested the Zayas fight after negotiations to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. did not come to fruition.

The fight for Zayas is the biggest challenge of his career. The Puerto Rican star has repeatedly said that to achieve greatness it is necessary to face elite opponents, and he insisted on this matchup even though he was an underdog in the eyes of many observers.

Grisham believes the stakes are especially high for “Boots” because expectations have followed him throughout his career.

“I think he’s number one in expectation to win,” Grisham said. “But to do that, you need fights like this.”

The winner of the June 27 fight will leave the Barclays Center as one of boxing’s top names in the junior middleweight division and with a powerful case for a spot near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.

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 updated: 19/06/2026 at 4:31