‘Interim’ WBC and WBA (Regular) light heavyweight champion David Benavidez is coming off a hard-fought unanimous decision win over David Morrell last weekend in Las Vegas. ‘The Mexican Monster’ suffered a late knockdown and recovered to win the fight on the judges’ scorecards. Now, he is slated to fight in the biggest fight of his career. 

Saudi Boxing Chief Turki Alalshikh wanted to invite the winner of Benavidez vs. Morrell to the ringside for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol rematch on the February 22nd card in Riyadh. The intention was to pit the winners of both fights against each other. Benavidez has since confirmed he is the mandatory challenger for the winner of the fight.

This means there will be a third undisputed light heavyweight fight later this year. However, following Benavidez’s victory, a formidable new challenger has stepped into the spotlight. IBF and WBO middleweight champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly hopped on X recently to call out the undefeated boxer for a fight.  

“If Benavidez agrees to fight me, then you all know that I am always ready to fight,” the 16-0 Alimkhanuly wrote. “This will be a spectacular fight! He is a good boxer. If two best boxers meet in the ring the fans will be very happy! Boxing is not a business, boxing is a sport!” However, it’s highly unlikely that Benavidez would give up his opportunity to become the undisputed light champion to fight Alimkhanuly.

Previous reports have suggested that Alimkhanuly is looking to move up in weight specifically to fight David Benavidez. For now, the 31-year-old remains without an opponent for his long-awaited homecoming fight on April 5 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The southpaw was initially linked to unbeaten prospect Shakiel Thompson, but negotiations fell through. Since then, Thompson’s manager has commented on the negotiations. 

Why is Zhanibek Alimkhanuly calling out David Benavidez instead of fighting Shakiel Thompson?

Reports of a fight between unified middleweight champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Shakiel Thompson were premature, with negotiations falling apart due to financial disagreements. Thompson’s manager, Kevin Maree, confirmed that while discussions took place, the offer was far from acceptable. “We were made an offer, but the offer was miles off what would be accepted for that kind of fight, and we’re talking miles off,” Maree stated.

Maree believes Thompson, currently ranked No. 9 by the WBO, is a future world champion and won’t take unnecessary risks without the right deal. “If you’re talking about fighting a two-belt holder in his home city, in his home country, a very special fighter, the offer would have to be tremendous. It’s certainly not that.” For now, Thompson will continue his development, with Maree emphasizing, “We will build him properly unless somebody wants to offer the kind of money that would take us off that path.”

With Thompson backing out of the fight, Alimkhanuly will have a tough time landing an opponent for his voluntary defense of the titles, so he is looking at Benavidez for a mega fight. 

That said, Alimkhanuly may have to wait for David Benavidez to settle his fight against the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol to have the opportunity to fight Benavidez. Even then, there’s no guarantee that Benavidez would cut down to super middleweight. And if he does, he may want to fight Canelo Alvarez first. Do you think Benavidez should fight Alimkhanuly?