Benavidez Sr. Targeting Bivol, Overlooks Gvozdyk Threat

David Benavidez’s dad, Jose Benavidez Sr., is already talking about wanting WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol next despite Oleksandr Gvozdyk being on David’s plate for this Saturday night on June 15th.

Jose Sr. believes the victory is already in the bag for his son, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), in his twelve-round clash against former WBC 175-lb champion Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs), and he’s assuming that Bivol will defeat IBF/WBC/WBO champ Artur Beterbiev on October 12th.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that Bivol wins that fight, even though Beterbiev is being rushed back into the ring after rupturing his meniscus.

This Saturday, Benavidez will fight Gvozdyk for the WBC interim 175-lb title on PBC on Prime Video Pay-Per-View at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Benavidez and his dad, Jose Sr., should focus on Gvozdyk rather than talking up a fight against Bivol and whining about Canelo Alvarez 24/7.

Past Success Does Not Guarantee Future Victory

“We’re not trying to stop this guy, but we are looking to be impressive, and I think David is going to stop Oleksandr,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to the media about his prediction of a knockout win for his son David Benavidez against Oleksandr Gvozdyk this Saturday night on June 15th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

If Jose Jr. and Benavidez weren’t overlooking Gvozdyk, why all the talk about Bivol and Canelo? In the interviews in the build-up to Saturday’s card, Benavidez has talked about Canelo, and has said almost nothing about Gvozdyk.

When Benavidez has talked about Gvozdyk, he’s mentioned getting the better of him sparring years ago when he was around 21. It’s pretty obvious that Benavidez doesn’t respect Gvozdyk and feels this is a sure-thing win for him.

“We prepared ourselves super hard for this fight. It’s a new division,” said Jose Sr. “We’re fighting a guy [Gvozdyk] who was an ex-Olympian, an ex-champion. He only has one loss. He lost to [Artur] Beterbiev [in 2019]. He’s a very dangerous fighter. He has to show the people that he belongs here.”

Gvozdyk has beaten better opposition than Benavidez, and if there’s anyone who needs to show they belong, it’s David. Benavidez’s best career win is Caleb Plant, who Canelo had already knocked out. Gvozdyk stopped Adonis Stevenson, a fighter that was on another level than Plant.

“This is a big opportunity for Oleksandr to beat David. We trained super hard to look spectacular,” said Benavidez Sr. “We can’t just beat Oleksandr. We have to look spectacular to keep showing people he’s the best at 168 and 175.”

Benavidez will not get a huge amount of credit for beating Gvozdyk, no matter how good he looks. Gvozdyk is now 37 and was retired from 2019 to 2023.

He just came out of retirement last year. If Benavidez wanted to receive credit, he should have accepted the call out from David Morrell Jr., who is 26 and dangerous.

Premature Focus on Bivol

“Bivol beat Canelo Alvarez, so we’re trying to beat the one that beat the one. I think it’ll be an honor for us to fight Bivol because he beat Zurdo Ramirez and he beat Canelo Alvarez,” said Jose Sr. “So, if we can beat the one that beat the ‘Face of Boxing,’ I think that’ll put David in a greater position than he is now.”

As you can see, Jose Sr. is looking past Gvozdyk and assuming that Bivol will defeat Beterbiev on October 12th. It may not play out like Jose Sr. sees things. Benavidez could lose to Gvozdyk this Saturday night, and Bivol could come unglued against Beterbiev.

“We’re trying to look for the bigger fighters, the dangerous fighters, the fighters that no one wants to face,” said Jose Sr. “Those are the ones we’re after. Oleksandr has nothing to lose and a lot to gain. If we beat Oleksandr, we’re not going to get the credit that we deserve.”

If Jose Sr. thinks Benavidez won’t receive credit for beating Gvozdyk, he shouldn’t have chosen to fight him. He only has himself to blame for selecting Gvozdyk rather than David Morrell Jr. or Jai Opetaia. Both of those fighters are interested in fighting Benavidez, but he’s not eager to face either.

“People are going to say, ‘He’s done.’ He only has one loss. Like I said, he’s not a pushover. We trained extremely hard to look spectacular. We’re going to try and hurt him and try and put him out,” said Jose Sr.