David Benavidezrecently put out a hit list saying he had a plan to sign on for three massive fights which includes facing Oleksandr Usyk, Artur Beterbiev and Jai Opetaia. Before then, however, he needs to finish his existing deal.
According to Ring Magazine, the final fight of his deal will be against WBC interim cruiserwweight champion, Michal Cieslak, as the two men have booked to throw down in a title unification bout on Dec. 5, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Cieslak is currently on a seven-fight win streak which includes a TKO win over Jean Pascal, whom he defeated over a year ago to win the WBC strap. The Polish bruiser will be coming into the title fight with a 28-2-1 record and 22 knockouts to his name, though Benavidez will undoubtedly be the biggest test of his career.
As far as “The Mexican Monster” is concerned, he is currently one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world today, amassing an impressive 32-o record with 26 knockouts. He is currently the WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion, and is a former three-division king, previously holding the WBA and WBO light heavyweight belts to go along with the WBC super middleweight strap.
In the co-main event of the star-studded event, WBC interim super welterweight champion, Vergil Ortiz Jr., will put his undefeated record of 24-0 with 22 knockouts on the line against longtime veteran, Keith Thurman, who is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Sebastian Fundora.
Speaking of which, Ortiz is looking to lock down a huge statement win over Thurman in order to throw his hat into the mix for potential big-money title fights against the aforementioned Fundora and Jaron “Boots” Ennis, two of the top 154-pound boxers in the world.
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