David Benavidez has become a world champion in two weight divisions. This happened after Dmitry Bivol gave up his WBC light heavyweight title to seek a trilogy fight with Artur Beterbiev.
Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC, announced on social media that Benavidez, with a record of 30 wins and 0 losses (24 knockouts), has been promoted from interim to full WBC light heavyweight champion.
This announcement followed Bivol`s withdrawal from a purse bid with Benavidez, which was scheduled for today. By withdrawing, Bivol also forfeited his status as the current undisputed champion.
Despite not holding the WBC title anymore, the 34-year-old Bivol is still widely considered the best light heavyweight boxer at 175 pounds.
Bivol`s impressive victory over Beterbiev took place last February. He won by majority decision, repeating the same result as their first match and avenging his loss.
Now, it appears Bivol and Beterbiev are planning a third fight in October. This leaves Benavidez without a clear opponent from the WBC rankings to choose from.
Sulaiman has expressed his frustration with the situation. In his announcement of the new champion, he also directed a quick jab at Bivol`s lawyer.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Sulaiman wrote: “I have just received a cold and impersonal notification from Dmitry Bivol`s lawyer, Patrick English. The arguments provided for relinquishing the WBC light heavyweight championship are so ridiculous that I prefer not to discuss them with the WBC.”
“We wish Bivol success and hereby confirm David Benavidez as the WBC world light heavyweight champion,” Sulaiman concluded.
Boxing journalist Dan Rafael was the first to report this story and has since revealed the letter sent by Bivol`s attorney to Sulaiman.
In the letter, English stated that Team Bivol is “disappointed by the inability of the ratings organizations [WBC, IBF, WBO, and WBA] to adhere to the rotation system.”
The attorney further explained that according to the rotation system, the IBF is next in line to enforce its mandatory challenger, Michael Eifert, for Bivol`s next fight.
However, it seems that sanctioning bodies are willing to bend the rules as needed. Benavidez has won his title in circumstances that are less than ideal.
On Instagram, the 28-year-old Benavidez wrote: “Just got the news that Bivol decided to vacate his title instead of fighting me. This now makes me the WBC world champion at light heavyweight.”
“This is not the way I ideally wanted to become world champion, but I am now the WBC light heavyweight champion of the world, and I plan on putting on the best fights.”
