By Norm Frauenheim
SAN DIEGO — A return to light heavyweight is still an option for David Benavidez, despite plans to unify and defend titles at cruiserweight in his next two bouts, his father and trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. said Thursday.
There were conflicting reports about whether the ambitious Benavidez still had saw the 175-pound division as a possibility last Saturday when he stepped into the ring in an encounter with Jai Opataia after Opetai’s victory at 200 pounds on the card dominated by Ryan Garcia’s beat down of Conor Benn last Saturday in Las Vegas.
“175 is still there for us,’’ Benavidez Sr. told The Boxing Hour Thursday before a news conference for the Isaac Cruz-Nestor Bravo featured card Saturday Pechanga Arena.
Benavidez Sr, who will be in super-middleweight Daniel Blancas’ corner on Saturday’s undercard, still holds the World Boxing Council’s 175-pound belt. He continues to hope for a shot at Dmitriy Bivol or Artur Beterbiev in a title defense. Bivol is planning a title defense against Callum Smith. It’s never been clear whether there are any real plans for a third Bivol-Beterbiev fight.
Meanwhile, Benavidez next fight in defense of two 200-pound titles is expected to be Dec 12 against Michal Cieslak in Phoenix in what would be his first hometown appearance in four years. In a confusing procedure, the World Boxing Council performed a strip-and-elevate two step, declaring Cieslak its cruiserweight champion.
A Benavidez victory would then lead to Opetai in a bout planned for next May on boxing’s valuable Cinco de Mayo date. If Bivol is still there and still a champion at 175, Benavidez Sr. said his son is ready to take the risk and go down 25 pounds. His father estimated that Davld is at about 210 now.
“We’re talking about it, and we came up with all kinds of things,’’ Benavidez Sr. said of a wild scenario which sounds more like fantasy than real . “We could go up to heavyweight and fight Andy Ruiz Jr. Then maybe (Oleksandr) Usyk.
In mind and on scale, Benavidez foresees no limits these days.