David Benavidez says Artur Beterbiev wants the fight, but Jai Opetaia comes first
The unbeaten American has vacated the WBC light-heavyweight title that Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson will now fight for in Manchester, and wants Opetaia on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Artur Beterbiev has been in touch with David Benavidez's team about a cruiserweight fight, the unbeaten American said on The Ring's Inside The Ring show, but he wants Jai Opetaia first.
"Beterbiev has reached out to our team, and he's been actively trying to make that fight. So we're going to give him exactly what he wants," Benavidez said. "I respect Beterbiev. He's like 45 years old. So the fact that he's calling me out, I have a lot of respect for him ... That's a great fight for the public. We're two of the most violent fighters, and I'm all for it." Beterbiev, the former undisputed light-heavyweight champion, is 41.
Benavidez has since vacated the WBC light-heavyweight title to campaign at cruiserweight, which means the all-British rematch between Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson at the AO Arena in Manchester on 7 November is now for the full WBC title.
He holds the WBA and WBO cruiserweight belts after stopping Gilberto Ramirez in six rounds in May, and is due to face Michal Cieslak for the WBC cruiserweight title next, in a fight yet to be announced. "We've got this fight on December 5 in Phoenix, Arizona. It's supposed to be announced soon, and then after that, I want to fight Jai Opetaia on Cinco de Mayo at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas," he said. Beterbiev would follow: "We have Opetaia, then I think Beterbiev is going to come up to cruiserweight."
Opetaia may have other plans first. Deontay Wilder has accepted an offer to face Opetaia at heavyweight on the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua card at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 11 December. "If Opetaia is already looking to fight Deontay Wilder, then I'll take my business elsewhere," Benavidez said on the show, which aired on 8 October. "If we can't get that Opetaia fight for Cinco de Mayo, then we'll do it with Usyk."
Benavidez has set his sights on cruiserweight rather than Dmitry Bivol. "We've been trying to make that fight with Bivol for a long, long time. It looks like he's not willing to take any of these big fights," Benavidez said. "I don't know what's going on with Bivol or what his plans are, but I have my intentions set on this cruiserweight division." Bivol is due to defend his unified light-heavyweight titles against Britain's Callum Smith in Yekaterinburg on 12 December.
Asked which of Bivol, Beterbiev and Opetaia would be the hardest to solve, Benavidez picked Bivol. "The hardest challenge out of any of those fighters is Bivol," he said. "He's an all-around great fighter. He has great movement. He has great fundamentals, great defense. So, that in my opinion will be the hardest fight out of all of them. But they're all great fights."
Heavyweight is on his list too. "I definitely want to get in a fight with Usyk and maybe Fury, since he mentioned my name," said Benavidez, who is 32-0 with 26 knockouts.
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