David Benavidez will do battle with Michael Cieslak in a three-belt unification bout, leaving Zuffa Boxing champion Jai Opetaia to wait for his desired cruiserweight clash with the undefeated American.
Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) comes off his knockout win over Gilberto Ramirez in May, which saw the 29-year-old get the finish in round six after dominating to that point.
He will now put his WBO and WBA world cruiserweight titles on the line against WBC champion Cieslak (28-2, 22 KOs) on 5 December, who stopped Jean Pascal last June to win the vacant belt.
Cieslak’s last loss came four years ago to Briton Lawrence Okolie, who edged him on the scorecards in a bout at the O2 Arena.
While fighting Cieslak gives Benavidez the chance to go one step closer to undisputed champion status, it means fans will have to hold out for a fight with Australian superstar Opetaia.
The pair stoked the fire last month when Benavidez faced off with Opetaia following his win over Norair Mikaeljan at a Zuffa event in Las Vegas, accepting his callout in the ring.
“This is a great fighter, we’re going to give the fans a great fight,” Benavidez said. “I like this man, it looks like he likes war, I’m the exact same way so we’re going to give the fans a hell of a fight.”
Opetaia had previously suggested Benavidez’s demands were holding up the fight getting booked, saying he wanted to fight on Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo, with the undefeated Australia insisting he was not giving “any pushback”.
“Just call me and I'll be there. Just give me the date and I'll be there,” he said before the Mikaeljan fight.
Their in-ring exchange seemed to show a fight was teetering on confirmation but Benavidez will instead turn his attention to Cieslak this winter.
Benavidez still plans to fight Opetaia after the Cieslak clash, which would be one of a trio of blockbuster bouts he hopes to land as part of a new deal.
"I'm going to sign a three-fight contract," said Benavidez. "After this fight, we're talking about [Jai] Opetaia, we're talking about [Artur] Beterbiev, and we are maybe talking about [Oleksandr] Usyk.
"So those fights are going to be at cruiserweight, and I'm a little bit confused about the one with Usyk. That might either be at cruiserweight or heavyweight.
“Those are three great fights that need to happen, and they are going to happen. I'm not just here saying I'm going to fight these guys and then I never fight them. I'm going to fight these guys because this is who I want to fight.
"I want Opetaia, I want Beterbiev and I want Usyk."