Once bitten at super middleweight, David Benavidez’s promoter says his fighter will not be left to drift without a title again as a light heavyweight.
Sampson Lewkowicz said he has confirmed an existing policy will be enforced by the WBC and WBA for Benavidez to be the next opponent for the winner of the yet-to-be-scheduled 175-pound title rematch between undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev and Russian countryman Dmitry Bivol.
Beterbiev, after emerging with a majority decision victory over Bivol on October 12 in Saudi Arabia, will grant Bivol a rematch sometime in 2025.
Lewkowicz said that by contracting for WBC interim light-heavyweight champion Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), to fight Cuba’s WBA interim champion David Morrell, 11-0 (9 KOs), on February 1 in a pay-per-view (on Prime Video and PPV.COM) main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the pair have ensured a unified interim champion will emerge in victory.
By winning the final elimination, the unified interim champion is empowered to fight for the belt immediately. The only exception that will slightly delay that opportunity is an agreed-upon title rematch like Beterbiev-Bivol II.
“So if Beterbiev doesn’t fight Bivol next or if the fight is not made in good time, [the sanctioning bodies] need to mandate that Beterbiev fight [the Benavidez-Morrell winner],” Lewkowicz said.
How long will he wait for Beterbiev-Bivol II to occur?
“If it’s in June, we have an issue,” Lewkowicz said.
Lewkowicz said he feels assured this scenario will improve Benavidez’s opportunity to become a world champion again after the Mexico-based WBC didn’t order super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez of Mexico to fight Benavidez despite his three-year-long stay as the division’s No. 1 contender.
“[Beterbiev’s] not a Mexican,” Lewkowicz said. “He’s not Canelo. He doesn’t sell shit.”
Playing the waiting game, or “the Canelo shit,” as Lewkowicz called it, “will not happen,” again, he vowed.
Although the calendar would also allow the Benavidez-Morrell winner to explore a Cinco de Mayo showdown with Alvarez at super-middleweight, Lewkowicz spoke as if the bout is a lost cause.
“Stop with the Canelo questions!” he scolded one reporter at the Benavidez-Morrell news conference Tuesday at L.A. Live’s The Novo.
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