Cruiserweight King, David Benavidez Prepares to Unify in December

For years, the cruiserweight division was considered a boring "in-between" category. The fighters who campaigned at that weight wanted to be heavyweights, and in previous eras they would have been. But many of today's top heavyweights are so big, that a man weighing 200lbs would usually struggle to compete.

There have been great fighters in the cruiserweight division. Evander Holyfield, David Haye and Oleksandr Usyk come to mind. But they only made their name and their fortunes once they moved up to the heavyweight division. And those three were exceptional in that they were able to successfully make the transition. Most Cruisers simply can't overcome the size disadvantage.

But today we are blessed to have two of the most exciting fighters in the game in the cruiserweight division. "`The Mexican Monster" from Phoenix Arizona, David Benavidez and Australia's Jai Opetaia. Both are undefeated and have a crowd-pleasing, all-action style. Together, they have brought more eyes and money to the division than it has traditionally attracted.

Benavidez is the more skilled of the two. For a fighter that looks to engage so much, he is impressively hard to catch cleanly.

Jai is highly mobile and possesses excellent power and workrate, but his defence is leaky. He is particularly susceptible to right hands, and sustained multiple fractures to his jaw after taking one from Mairis Briedis.

The pair have been on a collision course for some time now, but it is far from inevitable that they'll meet.

On December 5th, Benavidez fights Michal Cieslak for the WBC title. He is certainly expected to win. 

The remaining IBF belt was, until recently around the waist of Opetaia. But when Opetaia joined Zuffa Promotions and fought for their inaugural world title, the IBF promptly stripped him. That decision is now subject to a lawsuit.

Jai has decided that rather than wait for that lawsuit to play out, in the hope of being reinstated as IBF champion, and then seeking to unify with Benevidez, he will move in a completely different direction. 

On December 11th, he'll be appearing as chief support to Fury vs Joshua against Deontay Wilder at heavyweight. So it seems that Jai has given up on his oft-stated ambition of becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion.

Opetaia has also been mentioned as a potential opponent for the Ring Magazine heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk. But just as Jai is moving up to heavyweight, Usyk has announced that he's moving back down to Cruiserweight to challenge none other than David Benavidez!

If Benavidez beats Usyk at Cruiserweight, perhaps he'll be temped to move up to heavyweight himself. If Opetaia beats Wilder, then perhaps the two cruiserweight kings can meet after all. At heavyweight.