Benavidez-Cieslak Three-Belt Cruiserweight Unification Set at Desert Diamond Arena

Premier Boxing Champions and DAZN formally announced a three-belt cruiserweight unification bout between David Benavidez and new WBC champion Michal Cieslak. The fight is set for Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Benavidez is 32-0 with 26 knockouts following his sixth-round knockout of former WBA-WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.

The bout marks Benavidez’s return to the Phoenix area for the first time since his May 2022 TKO of David Lemieux. Jose Benavidez Snr said, “We’re super excited and super happy to be going back home.”

Michal Cieslak enters the Benavidez bout as the new WBC cruiserweight champion. Cieslak, 28-2 with 22 knockouts, was elevated to the title last month. The elevation came when the WBC stripped Noel Mikaelian for fighting Jai Opetaia rather than mandatory contender David Benavidez.

The fight card also features WBC interim junior-middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz against former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman. Ortiz, 24-0 with 22 knockouts, is returning to the ring after a more than year-long layoff. The absence included a contractual squabble with promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

Thurman, 31-2 with 23 knockouts, was stopped by 154lbs champion Sebastian Fundora in March. Jose Benavidez Snr said of the Ortiz bout: “I think Vergil Ortiz should be a world champion by now. I respect him, but this fight doesn’t do much for me… this guy [Thurman] is done.”

Benavidez is heading to free agency as his contract with promoter Sampson Lewkowicz expires with the Cieslak fight.

Benavidez has been linked to potential bouts versus former unified heavyweight/cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, ex-heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jnr, and unbeaten recent IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia. Jose Benavidez Snr said, “Every fight, David gets bigger and bigger. We are constantly proving ourselves and this is the fight that will put him on top.”

Tickets for the Benavidez-Cieslak card are on sale Friday. Jose Benavidez Snr purchased the landmark Central Boxing Gym in Phoenix this year.

What do you make of the Benavidez-Cieslak three-belt unification and the Ortiz-Thurman bout, and who do you see Benavidez face next?