As 2027 approaches, the standout fight that boxing fans want to see seems to be a potential cruiserweight showdown between David Benavidez and Jai Opetaiaand former two-division world champion Andre Ward has shared his verdict on the proposed bout.

Opetaia defeated the then-reigning WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian earlier this month, but he didn’t get his hands on the belt despite the win.

Instead, due to that bout not being sanctioned as a title bout, interim champion Michal Cieslak was elevated to full WBC cruiserweight world champion and ordered to face Benavidez next.

The victor of Benavidez-Cieslak, which is mooted for December 12, will then be ordered to defend all three of their world titles against two-time IBF champion Opetaia, who remains undefeated despite twice losing his status as champion.

Speaking on the All The Smoke Fight podcast, Ward detailed what Opetaia must do in order to get the better of ‘The Mexican Monster’ and claim the WBA, WBO and WBC titles.

“That is the fight that needs to get made in the cruiserweight division, David Benavidez and Jai Opetaia. It takes a lot of skill to slow down an offensive guy like David Benavidez, it’s not just skill but it’s toughness too because he is only going to respect you by hitting him.

“You are going to have to get your respect at a certain point in time, but you also can’t get dragged into throwing 100/110 punches per round or whatever it is that he throws as a cruiserweight.

“You can’t get caught up in that because that’s not your game, but you have got to do enough to let him know that you are here. You have got to land enough to let him know that you are there – and you have got to try and stay up on the points as well,

“I think, for Jai, he has got to find a healthy balance because he has got good legs. He has got to understand where to be and when to be there, what angles to take but then also to instinctively know when to stand and rumble for 5, 10, 15, 20 seconds and give David what he likes and then go back to doing what he does, which is easier said than done.”

With Benavidez-Cieslak set for December, Opetaia is expected to remain on the sidelines until his shot at the winner, with that mandated bout anticipated to take place around Cinco De Mayo next year.

Hall of Fame trainer and analyst Teddy Atlas would favour one man in a “big way” if Ryan Garcia ends up facing Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.

The American successfully defended his WBC title earlier this month, flooring Conor Benn with a right hand and ultimately stopping his man in round two.

In doing so, Garcia retained his status as a world welterweight champion after dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory in February.

Prior to that, he looked far less impressive while getting outpointed by Rolando Romero, with his second professional defeat arriving at the completion of a year-long doping ban.

Based on his latest performance, however, Garcia appears to be fighting with supreme confidence as he targets another outing in 2026.

Standing in the opposite corner, he hopes, will be super-lightweight contender Cruz, who scored a sixth-round knockout over Nestor Bravo last weekend.

For all the Mexican’s strength and tenacity, though, Atlas has said on his YouTube channel that Garcia – who is around 6in taller – would surely punish Pitbull with his long-range attacks.

“With [Garcia’s] style on the outside and the sharpness of [his] punches – the right hand and the left hook – he’s going to have a lot of chances to catch [Cruz] just like he caught Benn.

“Cruz has a good chin – he’s a gutsy guy. And he’s a little more clever than he might have looked [against Bravo]. He’ll move his head, he’ll do certain things … he can even use his jab, at times.

“But, at the end of the day, you gotta favour Garcia in a big way. Is it a step too far [for Cruz] as far as size [is concerned]?”

While having campaigned at 140lbs for his last six fights, Cruz is, indeed, a much naturally smaller man than Garcia, who appears to have found an appropriate home at 147lbs.

Tim Bradley has accused Shakur Stevenson of avoiding a world champion and, instead, pursuing a much easier fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Indeed, the 47-year-old Pacquiao is a far cry from his former self, despite battling to a draw against then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in July 2025.

In doing so, the Filipino legend proved he can still compete to a certain extent but, more than likely, would fall drastically short against a truly elite-level fighter.

Most would therefore consider him an almighty underdog against Stevenson, who became a four-division world champion by dethroning Teofimo Lopez in January.

Several months later, the American ended up signing with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, but is yet to announce a date, location or opponent for his next outing.

According to various reports, however, Stevenson is now angling to face Pacquiao on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Reacting to this potential showdown for December 11, Hall of Famer Bradley said on his YouTube channel that, like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Stevenson is starting to become overly selective with his opponents.

“This whole generation [of fighters is] straight up soft. I’m thinking you [Stevenson is] growing some big balls – you want to face [WBA world super-lightweight] Gary Antuanne Russell.

“Yeah, you can beat him. But guess what? You want to fight him at 135 or 132[lbs]probably. You not willing to leap out and test your damn self.

“You used to talk so much trash about Tank, but you’re turning right into Tank Davis. This dude is literally trying to make a fight happen just with Manny Pacquiao. Nobody likes this s**t – Manny Pacquiao [is] way over the damn hill.”

Bradley went on to say that Pacquiao is no longer a mainstream attraction, probably doing under 200 thousand pay-per-view buys when he fought Barrios, while Stevenson just sees this as a shot at “free money”.