Benavidez vs. Beterbiev in 2026 – Time is running out for Artur

David Benavidez says he hopes he could have a fight against former undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in 2026.

Why might 2026 be too late?

The downside to next year’s Beterbiev-Benavidez fight is that Beterbiev will turn 41 on January 21. Delaying the battle between them will work against Artur.

Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) said he was going to fight Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) on November 22, but was not offered the fight. Instead, he will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against Anthony Yarde in the main event.

There’s not a lot of fan interest in this fight, as Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) has already been knocked out in his previous two world title fights against Sergei Kovalev and Beterbiev. Using Yarde as a world title contender is a bad idea. It would be okay if this was an undercard fight, but not for the headlines.

Beterbiev will fight on the undercard against little-known Dion Nicholson (22-1, 18 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout at the Ring IV: Night of the Champions event.

“I was not offered Beterbiev.”

“If I had been offered this fight, I would have taken it. I was offered Anthony Yarde. I was not offered Artur Beterbiev,” David Benavidez told Ring Magazine on the Ring Magazine website. X When asked why he chose to fight Anthony Yarde on November 22 instead of Artur Beterbiev, who is scheduled to fight on his undercard.

Benavidez said he also wants to fight IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, but doesn’t want to face him. Bivol vacated his WBC title rather than face Benavidez.

“The contract was already signed before they reached an agreement that they (Dmitry Bivol and Beterbiev) would not fight. So, there was nothing I could do about it. Hopefully later next year we can have that fight with Beterbiev,” Benavidez said.

If Bivol isn’t going to fight Benavidez, he might as well fight Beterbiev for a fight that fans might want to see early next year.

Dan Ambrose has been covering boxing since 2011, providing reliable information on the biggest fights in the sport.