Has David Benavidez become a much better fighter over the years?

He destroyed Yarde and Zurdo with ease. He looked very good. I haven't seen loads of his fights and I was surprised at how aggressive he was versus Yarde.

He gives Bivol a tougher fight than I initially thought he would.

 

Definitely much improved but people still getting a bit carried away

 

When's he going to be brave enough to take on the best fighter in a weight division he has campaigned in?

Plenty of choices for him:

H - Oleksandr Usyk
CR - Jai Opetaia
LH - Dmitry Bivol or Beterbiev
SM - Bud Crawford or Canelo

If he's not fighting any of those guys, he's not fighting the best.

 

Not fighting canelo is hardly his fault. He always was up for that. Anyone would have been with the payday and fame dangling in front of them.

As to bivol I share your concerns.

Asking him to fight opetaia is too much. Yes he beat zurdo and did it in style, but he had much sparring experience with him, so he knew he could do it. He is light for cruiser and opetaia is an absolute Monster.

The best (most natural and challenging) fight to make with him is easily bivol (from a competitive perspective)

 

He was always far more skilled and better than most people gave him credit for so he has not improved as much as people are thinking now. They are simply finally able to see and appreciate his skills more as he keeps beating up quality opponent after opponent. Canelo recognized his skills a long time ago.

Most fans don't understand boxing. They will just talk about how he is flat footed and squared up like sheep, without being able to understand how those things actually suit David's style and he has mastered the ability to make it work for him.

Bivol won't fight him , that is already a fantasy fight.

 

Hes always had the skills, think he's finally been knuckling down properly in camp and the results are there for people to see

 

So would I. Pity they refuse to fight him though right? Canelo and Bivol don't want it.

 

Ha! Bivol's ducking him already apparently. He's just had back surgery after going 24 rounds with Beterbiev. Give him a chance, Jesus.

 

The only one of these 6 names you might even have a sliver of a case for blaming Benavidez for is Opetaia and that’s it.

Benavidez has practically been begging for Canelo, Bivol and Beterbiev.

Canelo straight up ducked him for years in one of the most egregious ducks in recent memory.

Bivol dropped the WBC to avoid facing Benavidez when Benavidez (the WBC mandatory) was called, so he could sit around for a year then fight Eifert his IBF mandatory instead.

Beterbiev is not as culpable because he was also a victim of Bivol’s antics, but Benavidez-Beterbiev never happened because Artur rightly or wrongly prioritised a Bivol trilogy that didn’t happen (see above)

Crawford-Benavidez was never a fight that was remotely in discussion, Crawford made it clear he would always do 1 fight at 168 then retire

Usyk-Benavidez is simply pure fantasy, no one apart from complete casuals (and Turki who is a complete casual) wants to see that fight

Opetaia is the only fair case you can make against Benavidez. Though I will say, while Benavidez was becoming the youngest 168lb champion ever, and becoming a 3-division world champion by defeating multiple former world champions; Opetaia fought old shot Briedis x2, fringe contenders and gatekeepers in total mismatches, and then gave up on the belts completely by joining Zuffa. So Opetaia who no longer holds any of the 4 major world titles, has not exactly earned the immediate right to challenge Benavidez for his WBA and WBO cruiserweight world titles.

When will Opetaia be brave enough to move up to heavyweight instead of wasting his prime years against no-hope opponents in complete mismatches?

 

No excuse for him not to fight Opetaia next.

 

the Zurdo fight showed Benavidez is dangerous even at cruiser and his power scales up. look at Zurdo’s face by the end. pretty brutal.

I see no reason to think he can’t be competitive with Opetaia.

 

He's always seemed the same to me a come forward swarmer that's
tough

 

He's the same as he's always been - not fighting the top guy in any division.

 

Jai bodies him.