Tim Bradley has assessed David Benavidez’s probabilities of defeating Oleksandr Usyk, who nonetheless holds three of the 4 main titles at heavyweight.
The Ukrainian returns to motion at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza this Saturday, making a voluntary defence of his WBC strap in opposition to Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.
Past this subsequent outing, Usyk will seemingly be ordered to face WBC ‘interim’ champion Agit Kabayel, who is about to earn his shot on the full inexperienced and gold belt later this 12 months.
Alternatively, although, the 39-year-old may vacate his world title, maybe with a view to sq. off in opposition to newly-crowned unified champion Benavidez as an alternative – a struggle that has been backed by boxing powerbroker, Turki Alalshikh.
‘The Mexican Monster’ grew to become a three-division world champion earlier this month, dethroning Gilberto Ramirez with a sixth-round end in his first outing at 200lbs.
But regardless of his dominant efficiency, the fact is that Benavidez is just not but even a fully-fledged cruiserweight, with the 29-year-old admitting to weighing simply 202lbs on struggle evening.
Due to this, he’s prone to drop again right down to 175lbs – the place he nonetheless holds the WBC title – in a bid to face Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed crown.
So far as Corridor of Famer Bradley is worried, this represents probably the most smart choice for Benavidez, having successfully mentioned on his YouTube channel that the American has no probability at toppling Usyk.
“Usyk? Cease it. It’s okay to have goals – it’s effective, you may dream – [but] in case you really feel that David Benavidez can beat Usyk, I’ll gladly take your cash.”
Whereas Benavidez has all the time expressed an curiosity in shifting as much as heavyweight, it could seem that unified light-heavyweight champion Bivol is presently his major goal.
First, Bivol should defeat necessary challenger Michael Eifert on Could 30, however would certainly be longing for a shot at changing into a two-time undisputed champion later this 12 months.
