Artur Beterbiev wants David Benavidez next. He has spent over twenty months sitting on the sidelines, hoping for a trilogy clash with Dmitry Bivol that never materialized. Jumping up to cruiserweight offers a fresh target, but it also threatens to drag out his inactivity even longer.
Beterbiev dropped fresh training clips online this Monday, poking fun at his age while calling out the new division player. He joked about his physique looking like a man of forty-five, scaring people off. In reality, he sits at 41, turning 42 this coming January. That birthday will likely pass before he steps inside a ring again, especially since talks for a clash with Benavidez point toward 2027.
“Hope nobody was scared off by my 45-year-old physique,” Beterbiev wrote on social media.
Benavidez revealed the interest himself on Inside The Ring earlier this month. The former undisputed light heavyweight ruler reached out to his camp about meeting at the 200-pound limit. Benavidez sounded open to giving him the shot.
Chasing Benavidez hands Beterbiev a sensible target after the Bivol pursuit hit a wall. His February 2025 rematch with Bivol stands as his last sanctioned outing. Wasting nearly two years on that stalled trilogy took away precious championship time he can never get back.
The workout clips prove his muscle hasn’t vanished, but raw power was never the concern. The real test is sharpness under fire. Sitting idle chips away at reflexes, punch rhythm, championship stamina.
Benavidez brings relentless punch output that gym sessions cannot duplicate. Stepping up to 200 pounds also forces Beterbiev to show his heavy knockout power can hurt naturally larger men.
At the same time, Benavidez cannot sleep on the veteran. Beterbiev still carries sledgehammer power on the inside, creating real danger for anyone willing to stand in the pocket.
Sitting around waiting for Dmitry Bivol is pure career poison at this stage. Beterbiev is burning daylight he simply doesn’t have.
Turning 42 in January means every single idle month takes a bite out of his remaining sharpness. If the Benavidez camp can actually nail down a firm date for early 2027, fine, he can target that window. But if those talks drag out into vague promises or get pushed deep into the summer, Beterbiev cannot afford to sit in a training camp doing nothing.
The Bivol ship has sailed. Bivol went through back surgery, took other obligations, and showed zero urgency to jump straight back into a grueling trilogy war. Beterbiev spent the better part of two years holding out hope for that rubber match while his prime years slipped right out from under him.
If Benavidez isn’t locked in for Q1 2027, Beterbiev needs a stay-busy fight by late spring at the absolute latest. Even taking a mid-tier cruiserweight test to acclimatize to the 200-pound frame would do wonders for his timing. Heavy bag work and sparring with headgear can never replicate live incoming fire, especially against relentless combination punchers like Benavidez