David Benavidez has set the conditions for winning the cruiserweight titles: fight him outside of Zuffa or forget about the shot after crashing Gilberto Ramirez in Las Vegas.
“If he wants to do that fight, we can make it happen… We can’t make it so there are no fights there,” Benavidez said of rival Jai Opetai at the post-fight press conference for his devastating sixth-round stoppage.
Benavidez detailed the situation with Opetaia and the current policy of the Zuffa league: “I don’t know why [Opetaia] he went to Zuffa. We could have had this fight right after this one. I don’t know if he was stripped down by the IBF and what he is or isn’t. I’m not even going there – I’m not fighting for the Zuffa title.”
He continued: “But I mean, I don’t know. I think I’ll definitely fight him in the future,” Benavidez said.
“I respect Opetaia; I think he’s a great fighter. He needs to come back here [away from Zuffa] for these fights to take place.”
“I think everyone knows what this is about. There’s just a lot of politics involved, you know?”
Zuffa Fighters face title locks
Zuffa began to acquire a number of former champions and cruiserweight title challengers. Jai Opetaia was the title holder until he entered the format and was stripped of the title for fighting for the Zuffa belt.
Brandon Glanton, Ryan Rozicki and former WBO leader Chris Billam-Smith also joined the fight.
Benavidez warned that the league format could limit opportunities: “Dana White showed he didn’t want to fight PBC. He didn’t.
“I don’t even want to feel – I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but it’s just… that’s what it looks like from the outside.”
DAZN
Consequences for future matchups
The implications are clear: opportunities for Zuffa fighters to fight for sanctioned titles may be confined, while PBC-sanctioned fights will become the only viable path to defeating Benavidez.
Benavidez’s post-fight remarks draw a clear line: challengers must go beyond Zuffa to earn a legitimate shot at the title, meaning future matchups in the division and the scope of potential championship opportunities will face obstacles or uncertainty.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a seasoned boxing reporter with over 15 years of experience. Since 2010, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives and reported in-ring performances. Read the full biography.
According to. Snoop Dogg is set to star in an upcoming boxing drama titled Deadlinewho first informed about the casting. The Long Beach native will appear alongside Brandon Perea, known for his role as Jordan Peele in the film.
The project is more of a feature film than a series. Eric Amadio, who previously worked on the FX series, is writing and directing. Snoop’s exact role has not been revealed.
History
Per Deadline, it follows a tranquil street fighter raised in a Long Beach group home, torn between a troubled past and a future in professional boxing, trying to leave the backyard brawls behind and following his estranged father into the sport. Amadio described the film as both a coming-of-age boxing picture and a story about faith, presenting the theme as having faith in yourself when no one else has it, and having faith in people who refuse to give up on you.
Amadio addressed both casting choices for the lead role in comments reported by Deadline, saying that Perea gave him the nuanced, complicated fighter the role required and that Snoop portrayed an real character who has seen every version of the kid and still puts his trust in him.
Production details
The film will be produced by Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Pictures along with Everlast Pictures. In a statement, Snoop said his company is proud to be a part of the project, calling it a story built on heart, grit, struggle and redemption, tied to the spirit of Long Beach.
Deadline first reported on the project in March 2022, when rapper and actor Common joined the cast of the film alongside Perea. Filming will begin in Los Angeles this summer.
Canelo Alvarez still talks like a central figure in the super middleweight division, even though he no longer holds all the belts after his loss to Terence Crawford.
“They have to fight each other and then I will choose the winner.” Canelo said to Mr. Verzace. “At some point we all have to earn what we deserve, right? And they have to earn it.”
The comments were notable because Canelo is no longer a world champion at 168, and yet he still speaks from a position that allows him to avoid the same path he believes others should follow.
Since his loss to Crawford last September and absence following elbow surgery, the 168-pound belts have spread to a up-to-date group of champions that includes Christian Mbilli, Hamzah Sheeraz, Osleys Iglesias and Jaime Munguia.
Despite the loss, Canelo will still have an immediate shot at winning the world title against Mbilli on September 12 in Riyad.
This has sparked criticism from some fans who believe the former undisputed champion should now prove himself against threatening rivals before being given another shot at the title.
Fighters such as Lester Martinez, Diego Pacheco and Bektemir Melikuziev were mentioned by fans as opponents that Canelo would normally have to face if he was treated as a standard fighter rather than boxing’s biggest commercial star.
Canelo also rejected the idea of closely studying up-to-date names entering the division.
“I never check it,” he said when asked about the current situation in the super middleweight division.
For many fans, this reaction only reinforced the feeling that Canelo still sees himself as a cut above the rest of the division, even though he no longer holds all the belts.
But the Mexican star remains the sport’s biggest financial draw, which allows him to move on differently than most fighters after defeat. While younger fighters continue to try to establish themselves, Canelo returns to another championship fight.
Head coach Rudy Hernandez clearly remembers the moment Junto Nakatani revealed the level of power he experienced from Naoya Inoue’s punches.
The two Japanese stars faced each other in the highly anticipated matchup earlier this month, which took place at the sold-out Tokyo Dome stadium in front of approximately 55,000 fans.
Many expected Inoue to retain his undisputed super bantamweight crown as the ponderous favorite, but his dominance in the early rounds came as a surprise to most.
At this point, “Large Bang” suddenly came to life after his much more measured approach in the previous rounds, and he seemed to no longer respect his opponent’s power.
According to his coach, Hernandez, it was a key moment that, if it had come earlier, could have been enough to secure a points victory.
Anyway, the experienced trainer said Boxing Scene what Nakatani thought about Inoue’s strength, while believing that a potential rematch with Inoue would surely go their way, being so confident in Nakatani’s abilities that he promised to retire if he was proven wrong.
“If we don’t beat it [Inoue] in a rematch, I will never coach players again. I will retire. I’m leaving because I truly believe we’ll kick Inoue’s ass in the rematch.
“The moment Junto told me [Inoue] doesn’t hit as difficult, it was a game changer. I wish he had told me that in the second or third round.
Hernandez adds that regardless of their earlier head clash, Inoue’s uppercut in round 11 ultimately broke Nakatani’s orbital bone.
From there, the three-weight world champion put up an uphill battle to complete the full 12 rounds, let alone pull off a major upset.
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