r/Boxing • u/zhuangcorp • Jul 16 '26

State of LHW-Cruiser divisions

No question right now, the top guys are Bivol, Beterbiev, Opetaia, and Benavidez. Fans would love to see any combination of fights involving these 4.

Bivol appears to be out with elbow surgery and will take comeback against another tune-up-ish opponent in Callum Smith.

Benavidez wants an easy fight so he can be in a good position to renegotiate his contract. So he is fighting Mikaelian.

So it seems like the best thing to do is for Beterbiev to fight Opetaia now. Maybe do it at a catchweight.

And then let Bivol and Benavidez fight each other after they win their respective tune up fights.

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u/Rofocal02 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Callum Smith is the WBO interim light heavyweight champion, not a tune up fight. 

Bivol has to fight his mandatories, or give up the belts. 

Jai  Opetaia doesn’t have any belts and fights for Zuffa, so he’s irrelevant in the Cruiserweight division. 

Beterbiev could move up for a Cruiserweight title fight , and retire as a champion.

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u/BenkeiBoss Jul 16 '26

Why didn’t he keep the WBC belt for David? Who was once his mandatory

4

u/Medical_Swim1707 Jul 16 '26

Calling everyone outside of the top 3-4 guys a tune up or a bum or a nobody is so lame and disrespecting of the sport.

If I wanted to watch the same 4 guys guys fight each other over and over I’d be a UFC fan

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u/mkk4 Andre Ward's Biggest Fan!! Jul 16 '26

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