David Benavidez became a three-division champion after defeating Gilberto Ramirez on May 2, 2026. Turki Alalshikh expressed interest in a potential mega-fight between Benavidez and Oleksandr Usyk in 2027.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 02: David Benavidez celebrates his WBA & WBO Cruiserweight World Championship victory against Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez at T-Mobile Arena on May 02, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
David Benavidez (32-0) became boxing’s latest three-division champion this past weekend (Sat., May 2, 2026) after destroying the now former WBO and WBA Cruiserweight champion, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, with relative ease (see it again here). But is a move up to Heavyweight on the horizon for “The Mexican Monster?”
Maybe in five years.
Shortly after the big event in Las Vegas, Nevada, Turki Alalshikh revealed to The Ring’s Mike Coppinger that he would love to work on a blockbuster mega-fight between Heavyweight great, Oleksandr Usyk — who is the current WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBO, IBF and The Ring Heavyweight champion — against Benavidez for 2027.
During the post-fight presser, however, Benavidez quickly shut down the potential move up to another weight class, saying that those guys are simply too big for him, though he isn’t ruling it out in a few years.
“You guys keep asking me about Heavyweight, stop that shit, I am not coming up to Heavyweight. It was hard for me to come up to 200 (pounds). At Heavyweight those guys are super big, you know what I mean? But, I won’t rule it out, maybe in five years my body grows into Heavyweight. Maybe we can go up there and make a fight in five years, I think that is possible,” he said.
The potential fight between David Benavidez and Oleksandr Usyk is being considered for 2027.
Oleksandr Usyk currently holds the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBO, IBF, and The Ring Heavyweight titles.
David Benavidez defeated Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez to become a three-division champion.
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“But, just for right now, man, I am still interested in going back down to the Light Heavyweight division because I wanted to become a reigning, defending champion for years just like Sergey Kovalev was champion for many years, that’s really what I want to do. I think if I go up to Heavyweight I can completely forget about Light Heavyweight. Right now I am champion at Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight and I think I can jump to both weight classes. I think I can have a defense in both, and if I go up to Heavyweight then it’s forget about both weight classes.”
For his last fight against Daniel Dubois, Usyk tipped the scales at 227 pounds. For his next challenge, “The Cat” is set to face off against kickboxing legend, Rico Verhoeven, on May 23 at Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
While Turki is known for booking major title bouts fight fans want to see, Benavidez vs. Usyk may be just a tad bit too ambitious. Especially since there are so many big fights left for Benavidez at both 175 and 200 pounds, including Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, and Jai Opetaia, just to name a few.
Then again, if Jake Paul can make the move up to face Anthony Joshua, then Benavidez can certainly make the move up to face Usyk…right?
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