“The one that gets me the most excited is probably Beterbiev,” Benavidez said on the Ariel Helwani show. “Beterbiev has been the boogeyman for a long time, so for me, being the monster, I got to go in there and take the boogeyman out.”
What makes this look bad is that in the same interview, Benavidez dismissed a prime, dangerous champion like Jai Opetaia due to a lack of belts, while simultaneously chasing a 41-year-old Artur Beterbiev, who is also currently beltless.
Benavidez said in the interview that Opetaia is “two years away” because he was stripped of his IBF cruiserweight title.
Artur Beterbiev lost his undisputed status and all four major belts to Dmitry Bivol in their February 2025 rematch. By Benavidez’s own “belt logic,” Beterbiev should be off the table, yet he remains the “Monster’s” primary target at light heavyweight.
“Beterbiev is 50 years old. Cokavidez should’ve fought him instead of fighting Zurdo. This dude is a joke, all he does is talk,” a user on X Malevo posted.
Another user, umar ssenoga, wrote: “Beterbiev is old now. Bivol or Jai Opetaia, those the fights that make sense.”
It’s hard to argue with the fans on X when the math doesn’t add up. If he wants the “Monster” label to mean something, he probably has to stop worrying about which sanctioning body belt is on the line and start fighting the guys people are actually afraid of.
If Benavidez is the “Mexican Monster” in his prime, people want to see him hunting the alpha predators, not legends whose clocks are winding down.
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