David Benavidez vs. Jai Opetaia - Who wins?

[joshj909]

Benavidez said he won’t go below cruiserweight again

Shame really. There's arguably more interesting fights for him at light heavyweight in Bivol and Beterbiev.

[Ruthless-RKO]

No idea how he’s been making 175. It is a better division. But he’s huge.

He was bigger than Jai last night.

[gregregegg]

I really wanted to see Jai vs Bert at 200lb too, but I think that ship has sailed.

Jai vs cbs December in Aus (if his face is healed)

Jai vs benividez may 2027 in LA or Vegas

Win use the momentum to move to Heavyweight…
Or
Lose blame the weightcut, move to heavyweight..

[Ruthless-RKO]

[NazNaci1]

I do really like both fighters but just think David would be a little too much.

[Taansend]

A poll in The Ring magazine has 57% picking Benavidez (48% by KO) with 31% picking Opetaia by KO (12% points)

I went with Opetaia by KO but I have no clue at all.

I thought Zurdo would school Benavidez but he destroyed him. I don't think I've seen handspeed like that at Cruiser since Sammy Reeson.

But Opetaia always seems to find a way to win.

I really hope this gets made

[Ruthless-RKO]

OPETAIA SAYS EIGHT-MONTH WAIT FOR BENAVIDEZ 'DOESN'T MAKE SENSE'

Jai Opetaia wants to fight before a Cinco de Mayo clash with David Benavidez.

The pair are on a collision course that could culminate in one of the best fights that can be made in boxing taking on Cinco de Mayo next year. However, with Benavidez set to face Michal Cieslak in a cruiserweight title unification on December 12, Ring champ Opetaia doesn’t want to wait until eight months to return to the ring.

“I don’t want to wait until May for my next fight,” Opetaia said on the Mr. Verzace Podcast. “That’s ages away. I’d love to get one more fight in this year, and then one more early next year, and then we can fight in May. I’d definitely like to get a fight in. I’m not going to wait until May sitting around. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) also said he’d be ready to face Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) in December.

Benavidez, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked light heavyweight and cruiserweight, and No. 5-ranked fighter pound-for-pound, is the WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion. The Phoenix, Arizona, native also holds the WBC light heavyweight title.

The WBC announced on September 14 that it elevated Cieslak (28-2, 22 KOs), The Ring’s No. 4-ranked cruiserweight, from interim to full cruiserweight champion. Noel Mikaelian, The Ring’s No. 5-ranked cruiserweight, previously held the belt, but the sanctioning body stripped him of the title after he fought Opetaia rather than Benavidez, who was his mandatory challenger.

A sanctioning body declaring a champion from another sanctioning body as a mandatory challenger is rare, but it happened in part because Benavidez’s representatives petitioned the WBC for the designation.

Opetaia, 31, beat Mikaelian (28-4, 12 KOs) by ninth-round stoppage in the co-main event of Ryan Garcia-Conor Benn on September 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the same ruling where it declared Cieslak, of Kozienice, Poland, as its cruiserweight champion, the WBC ruled the winner of Opetaia-Mikaelian to be the mandatory challenger for the winner of Benavidez-Cieslak.

Cieslak, 37, won the interim WBC cruiserweight title with a fourth-round stoppage of Jean Pascal in June 2025.

During his post-fight interview after stopping Mikaelian, Opetaia called Benavidez, 29, into the ring. Benavidez and the Australian southpaw showed respect for each other, and verbally agreed to face each other on next May at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Any hopes of that coming to fruition would depend on Benavidez beating Cieslak and Opetaia winning his next fight if he opts not to wait.

Benavidez proclaimed Opetaia as the “boogeyman of the division,” but anointed himself as the man to take the boogeyman out. For Opetaia, the exchange was exactly what he was hoping for, and he billed a potential clash between them as the kind of moment fighters live for.

“They told me he was in the crowd, so I tried to find him and call him in,” Opetaia said. “I wanted him to say that. I just want to concrete the fight. It was good to have him in there [and] good to hear his words. I’m just hoping we get that fight over the line.”

[PRINCEKOOL]

From my understanding I thought this fight was next for both fighters 'surely Jai Opetaia needs this fight. The reason why I say that is because? David Benavidez has been marketed much better in his career, most of his fights are big fights regardless of who he fights'.

Note: Neither of the fighters are mega star anywhere near the level of Canelo Alavrez 'but this fight is the contest which could propel them up a level. In the World of sports'.

If Jai Opetaia does not want to wait for 8 months 'until this fight is made. I would say one ticking over fight is more ideal preparation. Opetaia needs to be careful not to sustain any unnecessary damage, before fighting David Benavidez' etc.

[gilgamesh]

From my understanding I thought this fight was next for both fighters 'surely Jai Opetaia needs this fight. The reason why I say that is because? David Benavidez has been marketed much better in his career, most of his fights are big fights regardless of who he fights'.

Note: Neither of the fighters are mega star anywhere near the level of Canelo Alavrez 'but this fight is the contest which could propel them up a level. In the World of sports'.

If Jai Opetaia does not want to wait for 8 months 'until this fight is made. I would say one ticking over fight is more ideal preparation. Opetaia needs to be careful not to sustain any unnecessary damage, before fighting David Benavidez' etc.

He could definitely fight another Top 15 Cruiserweight contender which would allow him to stay active without risking much. Hell probably anyone in the Bottom half of the Top 10 for that matter as well.

[JC]

If it’s definite about him fighting Jai, I guess that means Benavidez is up at 200lb permanently.

To me, it’s a shame if he’s passed thought 175lbs without fighting Bivol or Beterbiev. Those are great fights and, outside of Opetia, there aren’t many at cruiserweight.

He obviously also missed out on Canelo at 168lb.

[PRINCEKOOL]

From my understanding I thought this fight was next for both fighters 'surely Jai Opetaia needs this fight. The reason why I say that is because? David Benavidez has been marketed much better in his career, most of his fights are big fights regardless of who he fights'.

Note: Neither of the fighters are mega star anywhere near the level of Canelo Alavrez 'but this fight is the contest which could propel them up a level. In the World of sports'.

If Jai Opetaia does not want to wait for 8 months 'until this fight is made. I would say one ticking over fight is more ideal preparation. Opetaia needs to be careful not to sustain any unnecessary damage, before fighting David Benavidez' etc.

He could definitely fight another Top 15 Cruiserweight contender which would allow him to stay active without risking much. Hell probably anyone in the Bottom half of the Top 10 for that matter as well.

Jai Opetaia's share brute strength and power 'in my opinion is what will win him a potential fight vs. David Benavidez'.

Note: I don't actually think neither fighter is skill for skill 'that impressive. I don't think Jai Opetaia is a better cruiserweight fighter than a peak David Have or Oleksandr Uysk'.

Opetaia looks to be sustaining damage even in fights 'were he should win easy, if he was a skill for skill elite level fighter this would not happen'.

That is why I say? It is crucial that he does not sustain any unnecessary damage before fighting David Benavidez 'he could hypothetically be cut, and then this damage may reappear in a fight vs. Benavidez'.

I suggest maybe he should just have one fight 'against a ticking over opponent, and just train. In reality the real work and progression happens in the gymnasium, not on fight night'.

This notion in boxing that fighters suddenly improve on fight night is nonsense 'the improvements happen in the gym, through hours of rigorous training' etc.

[Eolaithe]

David Benavidez told Mike Coppinger that he plans to stay at cruiserweight for a long time, but would consider a one-off, big-money heavyweight fight if the opportunity arose.

However, in a recent video of him hitting the heavy bag, he looked heavy, with visible love handles as he rotated his hips to throw each punch.

David’s father said he would weigh about 210lbs when entering the ring for the Ramirez fight. However, in the heavy-bag video I watched, he looked much heavier.

Benavidez turns 30 in December. I think he needs to limit how much weight he gains between fights, or he may eventually struggle to make the 200lbs cruiserweight limit.

He was previously stripped of his WBC super-middleweight world title after missing the weight limit by 3lbs. I am sure he does not want that to happen again or to risk losing because a difficult weight cut leaves him exhausted.

I feel that the Benavidez–Opetaia cruiserweight fight needs to happen within the next 15 months. Otherwise, we may have to wait until both fighters move up to heavyweight, which may result in a commercially bigger bout if their rivalry is allowed to marinate.

If they fought right now, I would favour Benavidez to win on points because he has a superior resume, better engine and a higher work rate than Opetaia.

However, if Benavidez keeps gaining weight between fights, cutting back down to 200lbs could eliminate those advantages if he’s fatigued.

[gregregegg]

Weird that benevidez would be 210 and cut to 196.5 … I mean it’s a pretty easy cut, sure, but you rarely see people overshoot by more than 3 lb (although you do see it)

But I agree benevidez needs to not ballon too much, I think try stay sub 220 out of camp, if he tops out at 220, then camp takes him down to 210, then 10lb water cut to 200, feels pretty good zone for him. (Could obviously argue for him being lighter but if his weight naturally balloons you wanna fight it but not so much that he is constantly flat and sad)…

Interesting side question hypothetical… if Jai and benevidez signed to fight in one year, at heavyweight, what would they weight in at? Who would be heavier?

I could see beniviedez 210 and Jai 225… but I could also see benividez going full okolie and coming in 240 and fat haha.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Opetaia-Benavidez a 50/50 fight, says Andre Ward

A potential clash between Jai Opetaia and David Benavidez is one that could go either way.

That's according to former two-weight world champion Andre Ward, who broke down both fighters' possible routes to victory.

“It’s a pick 'em fight,” Ward told All The Smoke Fight. “It’s a great fight for the cruiserweight division.

“It takes a lot of skill to slow down an offensive guy like David Benavidez,” Ward said. “It’s not just skill, but it's toughness too. He’s only going to respect you hitting him. You’re going to have to get your respect at a certain point in time. But you also can’t get dragged into throwing 100 punches a round because that’s not your game but you have to do enough to let him know that you’re here.

“I think for Jai, he has to find a healthy balance. He has good legs, he has to understand where to be, when to be there, what angles to take, but then also instinctively know when to stand and rumble for 10, 15, 20 seconds and give David what he likes. Then go back to what he does.”

Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs), the WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion, watched on as a fan as Opetaia stopped Noel Mikaelian in the ninth round of their September 12 clash at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, defending his Ring title in the process.

After the fight, the pair met face to face, promising to fight each other in May 2027.

Although there are several things Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) needs to do in order to get the victory, the advice Ward had for Benavidez was much more straightforward.

“He just needs to continue being David Benavidez,” Ward continued. “He can box when he wants to, but he has that certain drive in him. Like he can box, but he really wants to let both his hands go.

"That’s where he feels the most comfortable and none of these guys can deal with it. You’re dealing with a guy who's physically strong, tough, and he’s got a high work rate.”

[PRINCEKOOL]

David Benavidez told Mike Coppinger that he plans to stay at cruiserweight for a long time, but would consider a one-off, big-money heavyweight fight if the opportunity arose.

However, in a recent video of him hitting the heavy bag, he looked heavy, with visible love handles as he rotated his hips to throw each punch.

David’s father said he would weigh about 210lbs when entering the ring for the Ramirez fight. However, in the heavy-bag video I watched, he looked much heavier.

Benavidez turns 30 in December. I think he needs to limit how much weight he gains between fights, or he may eventually struggle to make the 200lbs cruiserweight limit.

He was previously stripped of his WBC super-middleweight world title after missing the weight limit by 3lbs. I am sure he does not want that to happen again or to risk losing because a difficult weight cut leaves him exhausted.

I feel that the Benavidez–Opetaia cruiserweight fight needs to happen within the next 15 months. Otherwise, we may have to wait until both fighters move up to heavyweight, which may result in a commercially bigger bout if their rivalry is allowed to marinate.

If they fought right now, I would favour Benavidez to win on points because he has a superior resume, better engine and a higher work rate than Opetaia.

However, if Benavidez keeps gaining weight between fights, cutting back down to 200lbs could eliminate those advantages if he’s fatigued.

David Benavidez similarly to Toney Bellew 'could maybe fight at heavyweight, but only in the right stylistic match up. Bellew fought a semi-injured and miles outside his peak David Haye'.

Note: David Haye was not a Super Heavyweight 'and in reality, that fight was a contest between two classically styled physique heavyweight fighters. Haye in my opinion would have won the first fight, without sustaining the injury'.

But nevertheless, Tony Bellew did read the fight well 'and he did say pre-fight that he would push Haye, and that he would break down'.

I think Benavidez would probably struggled vs. skilled heavyweights who are stronger than him, and punch with more power'.

But a fighter like Murat Gassiev is there for the taking 'other than that, I would back both Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua even at this stage of their careers to beat David Benavidez' etc.