Former light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev claims that David Benavidez avoided him, choosing to move up to the cruiserweight division after initially proposing a fight. The Russian fighter says he immediately accepted the offer that had been presented to his team. According to Beterbiev, Benavidez did not expect such a quick acceptance and changed his mind shortly afterward. However, that version of events has been firmly denied by Jose Benavidez Sr., David’s father and trainer.
Here is what Beterbiev told Match TV about the matter:
“He had a fight with Anthony Yarde [on November 22], and I agreed to fight him after that. His team apparently didn’t expect me to agree so quickly, so they immediately changed their mind and chose Ramirez. That was a year ago. Generally, this has become the norm in boxing – sometimes I’ll box, sometimes I won’t, choosing opponents, I like this one, I don’t like that one. I have a different mentality. That’s foreign to me.
Benavidez is the kind of guy who talks a lot more than he does. But it must be said that he’s being handled very skillfully. He’s already a world champion in two weight classes. But his boxing is dirty, and some of his victories are certainly questionable.”
Jose Benavidez Sr. rejected the accusation that his son backed away after exploring the possibility of a fight with Beterbiev. This is what he told BoxingScene:
“They’re lying. We want to fight him. Let’s make that fight happen. Tell the [Beterbiev] manager to contact me, and we will make that fight happen in five minutes. Do you have his manager’s number? Let’s go.
Nothing happened, but we still want to fight him. We’re here to fight anybody. If Beterbiev’s ready, let’s make it happen. Who wants to fight? Let’s see. I think they’re all talk.”