The American will likely face a different fighter in a unification fight.
When David Benavidez moved up from super-middleweight, he made it clear that he only wanted the biggest fights. After all, being considered one of the best boxers in all of America, that was to be expected.
Both of his reigns as WBC champion at super-middleweight ended when he was stripped on two separate occasions. By the time he departed 168 pounds, there was a sense of unfinished business there.
Business that it sadly appears will never be finished.
A long-anticipated fight with Canelo Ălvarez never materialised. So, when Benavidez jumped up to light-heavyweight, he immediately chased Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, the two top students in class.
But after the WBC ordered a fight between Bivol and Benavidez, Bivol gave up his WBC belt due to being out with an injury. Benavidez was subsequently upgraded to champion and successfully defended against Anthony Yarde.
With a fight against Beterbiev far from view, Benavidez moved up again to cruiserweight, becoming unified champion by beating Gilberto Ramirez. But despite wanting to fight Jai Opetaia, Opetaia’s move to Zuffa Boxing made this unlikely.
So, Benavidez instead moved his attention to WBC champion Noel Mikaelian, and reports stated that a deal had been reached. Only, Mikaelian turned it down, and it was announced shortly after that he would be facing Opetaia on the Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn undercard.
As a result, it is now expected that Mikaelian will be stripped of his WBC title and Benavidez will fight in a unification with the vacant belt on the line against Michal Cieslak, the organisation’s interim champion.
If/when that fight gets made, Benavidez will be an almighty favourite. However, the American would only be chasing the belts, and that’s exactly what a champion does.
đ Veteran journalist Lance Pugmire: “The expectation is that the WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman will strip the WBC title away from [Noel] Mikaelian and put that belt on the line for David Benavidez [to fight for it] against the interim champion Michal Cieslak.” [@BoxingScene] pic.twitter.com/AwX2tBDaju
â EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) August 6, 2026
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