Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, David Benavidez, isn’t going to wait on the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Betebiev trilogy match. He’s already targeting Anthony Yarde, Callum Smith, or Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.

Callum’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says they’re interested in fighting Benavidez next. However, he also points out that Smith is the WBO interim champion and is in a position to challenge the Bivol-Beterbiev 3 winner.

That’s the bigger payday for Callum. Hearn wouldn’t have brought that up if he were serious about him fighting Benavidez. It’s more likely that he wanted to give the impression that Callum has options when negotiating with the winner of the Bivol vs. Beterbiev 3 contest.

Bivol’s Belt Decision

“They decided not to go with it and leave the belt,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fight Hub TV about Dmitry Bivol choosing to vacate his WBC light heavyweight title rather than going to a purse bid for a fight against his WBC mandatory David Benavidez. “It’s a big surprise that they did that.”

It is surprising that Bivol chose to give up the WBC belt, but it wasn’t his call. Turki wanted the trilogy fight, and he was the one offering the money for that. It makes sense for Bivol to go in the direction of the bigger money bout against Artur, 40, than fighting Benavidez for $8 million.

“A fight against David Benavidez would have been a big fight, and maybe the winner of that fight could have fought Beterbiev or maybe we could have fought Beterbiev first, and the winner of that fight could have fought Bivol. It would have made more sense,” said Jose Sr.

With Beterbiev, 40, aging and having repeated injury problems, it’s possible that Turki didn’t want to take the chance of waiting for Bivol to defend against Benavidez next. If Artur took a stay-busy fight, he might lose if his opponent is halfway decent. He didn’t look good in either of the two fights with Bivol.

No Waiting for Winners

“We’re not going to wait for nobody. We didn’t wait for Canelo, so we’re not going to wait for anybody,” said Jose Sr. about how Benavidez won’t wait on the Bivol vs. Beterbiev trilogy match, hoping to get the winner. We’re trying to stay active and give fans what they want.”

It’s a good idea for Benavidez not to wait around, hoping to get a shot at the winner of the Bivol vs. Beterbiev 3 trilogy. Those guys could move in a different direction if Turki has plans for them. He’s the one who wanted to see the trilogy.

If not for that, Bivol would have kept his WBC belt and defended against Benavidez. Turki may not want the winner to face Benavidez for whatever reason, perhaps due to the high possibility of them losing.

“I wish we could have got that belt [WBC 175-lb belt] in a fight. This isn’t the way that David wanted to get a belt,” said Jose Sr. about the WBC upgrading Benavidez from interim to full champion after Bivol vacated.

“That’s very accurate. It was $8 million,” said Jose Sr. about how much would have been at stake for the Bivol vs. Benavidez fight. “Bivol would have taken 60%, and we would have taken 40%. That was just for Dmitry [the $8 million]. It was somewhere around $14 to $15 million. We weren’t going to step aside [to allow Bivol to hold onto his WBC title for the Beterbiev trilogy]. I don’t believe in step asides.

“Now, we’re thinking Anthony Yarde, Callum Smith or maybe do a catchweight in a fight or two against Zurdo Ramirez. It’s a big fight to see two Mexicans go at it,” said Jose Sr. about Benavidez and Gilberto Ramirez.