David Benavidez: Dmitry Bivol 'knows I'm not coming to play' after 'up close and personal' sparring sessions

One of the best fights that can be made in all of boxing, without a doubt, is Dmitry Bivol vs. David Benavidez. Thus, boxing fans were somewhat disappointed to see WBC light heavyweight champion Benavidez announce his jump up to cruiserweight to challenge Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez this Saturday for his unified titles — not because Ramirez vs. Benavidez isn’t a terrific fight, but because of the perception that it could signal Benavidez’s time at light heavyweight has come to an end.

However, Benavidez told Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” in the lead-up to this weekend that although he’ll be moving up 25 pounds to the 200-pound cruiserweight division to face Ramirez in Las Vegas, he expects to come back down to light heavyweight afterward and deliver the Bivol fight fans are clamoring for.

“My plan wasn’t just to abandon the light heavyweight division,” Benavidez clarified. “My plan was to come up, grab two titles, come back down, and make this fight with me and Bivol even bigger. That’s exactly what I want to do. My dream is to become unified champion. And my foot is already there, basically at the finish line.”

Benavidez, 29, said he’s taking the fight with “Zurdo” because Bivol was unavailable. Bivol hasn’t fought since defeating Artur Beterbiev for boxing’s undisputed crown in February 2025. Shortly after Bivol won the belts, the IBF ordered him to face his long-overdue mandatory, Michael Eifert, and the champion’s injuries have prevented him from doing so until now.

Bivol will finally defend his WBA and IBF titles against Eifert on May 30 in what will be his first fight in his home country of Russia in nearly a decade. The pair of matchups put Bivol and Benavidez on the same timeline, perfectly setting up a collision later in the year. However, it does also pose the question: Why didn’t Bivol and Benavidez fight straight off the bat in 2026? And Benavidez thinks he knows the answer.

"Because Bivol — and all my respect to him, I don't want to make him seem like he's scared or nothing — but he knows what it is when it comes to David Benavidez,” Benavidez said. “He's seen me up close and personal, and I've seen him up close and personal as well. He's a great fighter. We've had some great sparring sessions, but he knows I'm not coming to play.

“He knows when David Benavidez steps into that ring, all those belts are leaving with David Benavidez. I think he knew the danger and the severity of this fight, so I felt like that's why he took a tune-up fight first. I respect Dmitry Bivol — he's a great fighter. But he's definitely going to have to come see me after this fight."

Boxing’s biggest star, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, has occupied the sport’s coveted Cinco De Mayo weekend date for the last decade. But with Alvarez recently losing to Terence Crawford and possibly nearing the end of a Hall of Fame career, 2026 feels like a passing of the torch year.