BoxRec

David Benavidez – Callum Smith Fight Getting Closer, Could Happen In Vegas, Dallas, Or Liverpool

“The Mexican Monster” in the UK? Sampson Lewkowicz, who promotes unbeaten light heavyweight warrior David Benavidez, has told The Ring that a fight between the reigning WBC 175 pound champ and Britain’s Callum Smith could take place in Liverpool, with Las Vegas and Dallas also being possible locations for the fight.

Eddie Hearn recently stated that an offer has been received from PBC and that Smith and the team are looking at the fight. Lewkowicz said a deal is getting closer, the fight to possibly take place in October. In addition, Lewkowicz says a fight between Benavidez and another British fighter, Anthony Yarde, is also possible.

“Ready To Go To England”—Benavidez’s UK Warpath

“It’s not easy to find the right guy to fight Benavidez,” Lewkowicz said. “We’re also ready to go to England to fight Smith if the deal is right. Either fight [Smith or Yarde] is a good fight for boxing. We’ll see what happens. At this moment, there are two excellent challengers but it’s not up to me, PBC or David Benavidez. It’s up to Eddie Hearn if he wants to make the deal. We’re one call away.”

Yarde is promoted by Frank --Warren, so that fight is nothing to do with Hearn, but maybe Warren likes the idea of Benavidez invading the UK to take on a British star. Either way, either fight is, as Lewkowicz says, good for boxing. And again, for the British boxing fans it would be great to have Benavidez, 30-0(24) and one of the most exciting and ferocious fighters in the sport right now, operating in the UK.

DAVID BENAVIDEZ-CALLUM SMITH IN PLAY FOR OCTOBER; EDDIE HEARN CONSIDERING PBC OFFER

David Benavidez and Callum Smith are inching closer to getting a deal done for an October fight in the United States, Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz told The Ring on Tuesday.

Lewkowicz is targeting either Las Vegas or Dallas as locations for the fight. He is also open to the idea of Benavidez, the WBC light heavyweight champion, taking on the Liverpool’s Smith in the United Kingdom.

“It's not easy to find the right guy to fight Benavidez,” Lewkowicz told The Ring. “We’re also ready to go to England and fight Smith if the deal is right.”

Hearn acknowledged last weekend that he received an offer from PBC and the fight is currently in negotiations. The Matchroom Boxing chief added there is a good chance Smith is taking the fight.

Lewkowicz noted that Anthony Yarde, who is tied to allegedly, has also been in consideration for Benavidez if the Smith deal falls apart.

“Either fight is a good fight for boxing. We'll see what happens,” Lewkowicz said. “At this moment, there are two excellent challengers but it's not up to me, PBC or David Benavidez. It’s up to Eddie Hearn if he wants to make the deal. We’re one call away.”

One Benavidez opponent Lewkowicz has punted on, however, is undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

“Canelo will never, ever fight Benavidez, regardless of the money,” Lewkowicz said. “You can give him whatever he wants. When you bring the contract, he won’t sign. I told my team to forget about him.”

Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) claimed the 175-pound WBC interim title during his division debut with a unanimous-decision win against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June 2024.

He followed it up with a career-best performance in February, defeating David Morrell to retain the belt. Benavidez was elevated as the WBC's full belt-holder in April when Dmitry Bivol vacated the title to instead pursue a trilogy fight against Artur Beterbiev.

Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) eked out a win against the previously undefeated Joshua Buatsi in February in a slugfest to capture the WBO interim title. Smith petitioned in May for a mandatory title shot against Bivol, but the sanctioning body denied his request.

Great fight. About time. Winner will have earned a shot at Bivol/Beterbiev

I'm generally only focussed on heavyweights and cruiserweights but Benavidez is one of the few fighters from other divisions I love to watch. Terrific fighter. Hope this match gets made.

Two top tier boxers who can both throw a blizzard of damaging punches

Put them in the same ring as each other and it should be fireworks

interesting the enthusiasm for this fight - i look at it as a solid fight, but then i see people raving over it as if benavidez is fighting canelo or beterbiev. to me it seems like cal will have some moments but ultimately benavidez will light him up. cal won like 1 round out of 20 vs elite fighters for me. i would be really excited to see benavidez vs those guys

i guess the question is just how good is benavidez? some people obviously still have doubts that he's elite. but i think good enough to win this handily

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑18 Jun 2025, 12:34 interesting the enthusiasm for this fight - i look at it as a solid fight, but then i see people raving over it as if benavidez is fighting canelo or beterbiev. to me it seems like cal will have some moments but ultimately benavidez will light him up. cal won like 1 round out of 20 vs elite fighters for me. i would be really excited to see benavidez vs those guys

i guess the question is just how good is benavidez? some people obviously still have doubts that he's elite. but i think good enough to win this handily

Agreed. I’m also not sure it’s a real big fight. Isn’t a PPV over here and I don’t think it’s a big PPV in the US. PBC put 80% of their shows on PPv but, given how Smith looked against Canelo and Beterbiev, I’d be surprised if there’s much demand for this in the US.

I’d rather see Smith vs Yarde at this point.

Benavidez by absolute battering. I mean it's not a terrible fight to make at this juncture, and I think Smith is a very good fighter, but he's all wrong for Benavidez in my opinion. He would get teed off on all night and offers nothing to trouble Benavidez enough. DB by late stoppage or wide decision.

I just enjoy watching Benavidez set about people.

Don't think DB will enjoy Smith's bodywork at all. Smith is a very live dog in this

Callum’s a great lad and has had a stellar career but one life and death win against a Euro level plodder in Buatsi isn’t enough to fill anyone with confidence that he could go in with an elite guy who’s younger fresher and fitter than him without things turning out rather badly for him

Think it will be a pretty routine defence for the formidable Benevidez, he’ll break up Smith the same as Bert did.

I’d much prefer to see him in with Yarde, if he’s coming over here. Yarde isn’t beating him either, but always puts up a terrific fight when he’s in deep with the big names. Comes out swinging.

I mean, Benvanidez wallops just about anybody, outside the big two at lightheavy.

Why the hell turki isn’t making those matches I do not know, Artur versus the monster would be one of the best fights of the last 20 years.

Benavidez

Callum would get eaten alive.

Smith earned the right to a big fight with Benavidez.

Callum put on a thrilling display to see off the unbeaten Buatsi. Yarde went over old ground in beating an inferior opponent and really doesn't deserve a 3rd tilt at the big time.

It'd be pretty cool to get Benavidez to the UK. I'm all for going to see the real deal live in the flesh if they're willing to travel.

Can't see Callum being able to much with David, though. I don't see DB as on the monstrous level of a Bivol or a Beterbiev, but he's still an elite dude and will probably just beat Callum up. What does Smith really have to keep him off?

Callum Smith: ‘David Benavidez fight is definitely a possibility’

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Callum Smith and David Benavidez are still in negotiations for a light heavyweight title fight later this year.

Smith cemented himself as one of the leading challengers in the division back in February when he ripped the WBO interim title from Joshua Buatsi with a thrilling victory on the undercard of the undisputed 175lb title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Bivol later vacated his WBC title after defeating Beterbiev for all the belts, meaning Benavidez was lifted from interim to full champion. With Bivol and Beterbiev seemingly set on dueling for a third time later this year, it has left Benavidez with few options for a standout opponent. Smith is the leading candidate for a title shot after his win over Buatsi, and it had been reported that the pair were in discussions for a bout for Benavidez’s WBC title.

“Yes, still ongoing, to be honest with you,” Smith told BS. “I think things don't move as quickly as you'd like, especially as a fighter and as fans. You kind of want it to get done in the next few days, but no, there's talks going on. I think it's a fight that definitely is a possibility. I think everything's got to make sense for both sides, for himself and for me. Fingers crossed we've both got a good team, we can get it sorted, and that can be the next fight. Either way, whether it's David Benavidez or anyone else, the goal for me is still the same: to be a two-eight world champion.”

Smith finds himself in a good position, regardless of what goes on with discussions with Benavidez. The winner of the third bout between Bivol and Beterbiev later this year will be ordered to face Smith by the WBO. It is also likely that the winner may opt to vacate in favor of a better offer. There has been talks of Bivol moving up to face cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia or rematching Canelo Alvarez – whom he defeated back in 2022 – and Beterbiev has already bettered Smith, stopping him back in 2022. If Smith was to hold on to his interim strap, there is a good chance he could be promoted to full champion by the WBO.

“Yes, it's an option. If I can't land a Benavidez fight, then there's no world title fight,” Smith said of defending his interim title. “They're all, the other belts, in that [Bivol-Beterbiev III] fight. So an interim fight in the meantime, and then when the rematch happens, then the winner will be ordered to defend against me. So I either fight the winner of that fight for all the belts, or they vacate and I get elevated to full champion, and then I'm world champion, and I can fight whoever the next challenger is. Like I said, it's a bit of a strange position, but a good position nonetheless. I've got to just wait and see how things pan out, and I'll see what the next move is for myself. I've got a great team. I leave it all down to them, and I'm sure they'll come up with the best option.”

The goal for Smith remains the same – become a two-weight world champion by any means necessary. Standing at 6ft 3” the towering Smith is no small light heavyweight, despite spending the majority of his career at 168 lbs, where he won a world championship. Smith was asked if a move up to cruiserweight could be an option.

“I think I would with the right opponent,” he replied. “There's some big lumps up there, but when you look at the champions, obviously Jai Opetaia, he’s a good fighter, he's a genuine cruiserweight, but Gilberto [Zurdo] Ramirez was a super middleweight world champion at the same time as me, and the same with Badou Jack. He was a super middleweight. I was mandatory challenger for him when he was super middle, so naturally, they're not really big people, so I'd fight either of those two most definitely, but some of the bigger cruiserweights at the moment, not so much there. It's definitely an option, but not the minute. The goal is to be a two-weight world champion at light heavyweight.”