Now that he has crossed another milestone, David Benavidez has a few potential opponents to consider. Last weekend, he defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk to become a champion for the fourth time. In a strict sense, as the WBC’s interim light heavyweight champion, he can test his skills against fellow traveler David Morell. Following ‘The Mexican Monster’, the Cuban-born boxer will make his light heavyweight debut on the August 3 Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles. Then Benavidez can go back to 168 lbs. to continue chasing Canelo Alvarez for that big payday. Finally, he can wait till October and see who emerges victorious in the undisputed clash between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.

Outside of the Canelo fight, if given a choice, David Benavidez might consider challenging Dmitry Bivol. Why? Per available accounts, ‘The Mexican Monster’ and the light heavyweight champion have had quite a few sparring sessions. Hence, the former feels that he may know the secret ingredient that could disrupt the recipe of the P4P best boxer. Fine, what about the opposite corner? What does Bivol have to say about Benavidez’s thoughts? What’s his version of the sparring story?

Dmitry Bivol: There’s more to sparring than meets the eye

Thankfully, Marcos Villegas intervened to secure some answers to those pertinent questions. During a conversation with Dmitry Bivol, the Fight Hub TV founder shared how David Benavidez has expressed an interest in fighting him and Artur Beterbiev. “I’ve seen a lot of interviews he brings up the sparring that you guys had, and he says based off of that, he’s very confident that he he would beat you,” Marcos Villegas asked. He hoped Bivol must have seen those interviews.

The light heavyweight champion replied that he is aware of some comments being made. But he hadn’t really seen any of those interviews. Nevertheless, the fact remains that he holds David Benavidez in high esteem as a fighter. So if he has voiced an interest in fighting him or Beterbiev, then it only means that he has supreme confidence in his skills. Perhaps he wants to scale new heights in the sport, Bivol opined.

So Marcos Villegas then checked whether he remembered any of these sparring sessions with ‘The Mexican Monster’. His reply was that he did recall a few of those. Dmitry Bivol highlighted that both he and David Benavidez gave a good account of themselves. But, in the end, it’s plain sparring; you are supposed to follow what the trainer instructs. Sometimes, even after a few rounds, the boxer may not be able to execute what the trainer told him. Then, often, you manage to pull it through somehow, and then it feels like you’ve done something great.

So that’s what sparring means in the long run, as Dmitry Bivol explained. He said, “Because you did what your coach asked you, you know, and in the fight, of course, it’s different. In the fight, they ask you to do something. You will not waste your time if it’s it’s it’s not good. You will try to do another thing things another another and sparing it’s training.”

Clearly, the light heavyweight champion was being true to his usual self. He remains quite assured. There is a marked difference between what happens in a sparring session and what happens in a fight.

A Monstrous Bravado?

It was nearly a year ago, while speaking with the media, that David Benavidez picked Dmitry Bivol as the best 175-pound boxer. Initially, he tried to be diplomatic, saying that only a fight could determine who stood ahead between Bivol and Beterbiev. However, he couldn’t hide his tilt towards the Kyrgyzstan-born boxer for long. “I think Bivol’s movement and how he fights, and how disciplined he is—I think he has what it takes to beat Beterbiev,” he said. So a reporter mentioned that even Canelo Alvarez couldn’t beat Dmitry Bivol. Hence, does he fancy himself as the right Mexican champion who can tackle the light heavyweight champion?

‘The Mexican Monster’ responded, “I sparred Bivol a lot, yeah, so I know what happens in those sparring sessions, so yeah.” When the reporter asked whether he believed that he could knockout Bivol, the reply was, “I can knock him out.”

So, what’s your opinion? Do you think David Benavidez can stop a pound-for-pound-ranking boxer like Dmitry Bivol?