Teofimo Lopez has named the only man that he believes is capable of ‘challenging’ David Benavidez, who remains undefeated following his triumph over Gilberto Ramirez.
‘The Mexican Monster’ dethroned Ramirez with a ruthless sixth-round stoppage in his last outing, becoming a three-division world champion by collecting the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles.
Since then, many have expressed their interest in seeing Benavidez collide with former world cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, or perhaps even Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight.
But while both of those matchups would undoubtedly capture his interest, it appears far more likely that the 29-year-old will enter an undisputed showdown with Dmitry Bivol.
The pair have already held preliminary talks to collide later this year, with Bivol expected to make a successful title defence against Michael Eifert on May 30.
This represents his first outing since claiming all four major belts in February 2025, when he exacted his revenge over Artur Beterbiev with a majority decision victory.
Bivol then decided to undergo back surgery, rather than make a mandatory defence of his WBC title, which is why Benavidez was subsequently elevated from ‘interim’ to full light-heavyweight champion.
Prior to that, Benavidez had secured a hard-fought points victory over David Morrell, which is partly why Lopez sees Bivol posing a worthy challenge to the high-volume puncher.
Speaking with several media outlets, including Fight Hub TV, Lopez explained how Bivol’s style could make for an intriguing contest.
“The only person that could probably challenge him would be Bivol… just because of the distance.
“David Morrell gave him a tough fight, and that was just from the range.”
Bivol is an expert when it comes to distance control and in-and-out movement, hence why Lopez views him as an appropriate challenge for Benavidez.