Team Benavidez target Jai Opetaia for Cinco de Mayo 2027 after Michal Cieslak fight

David Benavidez’s team are targeting Jai Opetaia for Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas in 2027, provided Benavidez first comes through an expected December 12 cruiserweight fight with Michal Cieslak in Glendale, Arizona.

Benavidez, 32-0 (26 KOs), is nearing agreement to face Cieslak, 28-2 (22 KOs), in a bout that could carry the WBC cruiserweight title depending on the sanctioning body’s next move over Noel Mikaelian. The planned fight would keep Benavidez at 200lbs after his May stoppage of Gilberto Ramirez, when he won the WBA and WBO belts and became a three-division titleholder.

Opetaia plan follows WBC dispute

Jose Benavidez Snr, Benavidez’s father, manager and trainer, told BoxingScene that he has spoken with Turki Alalshikh about a future fight with Opetaia, who is due to face Mikaelian on September 12 in Las Vegas. “I told him [Alalshikh] that’s the fight [Opetaia] I want most,” Benavidez Snr told BoxingScene.

The proposed route depends first on the WBC’s handling of Mikaelian, who was ordered to defend against Benavidez after the unbeaten American’s representatives petitioned for him to be installed as mandatory challenger at cruiserweight. Mikaelian has instead moved towards a fight with Opetaia at T-Mobile Arena, on the undercard of Ryan Garcia’s WBC welterweight title defence against Conor Benn, prompting the WBC to seek clarity from promoter Don King.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has indicated to BoxingScene that Mikaelian could be stripped, though no firm response deadline has been attached. If that happens, Cieslak could either be elevated from interim champion before facing Benavidez, or the December 12 bout could be staged for the vacant WBC title.

Mikaelian has said the Benavidez fight was not finalised quickly enough after he accepted it. “With the Benavidez fight, I agreed to it immediately, and [more than] 60 days [passed],” Mikaelian told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger. “I never received an agreement. … [My manager Anthony Girges] decided we have to see what’s going on there to make a fight happen. I have to make a living. I have to fight. I have to make a career. I can’t wait forever. I’m already getting gray hair. It’s either now or never.”

He has also left open the possibility of facing Benavidez later, saying: “We can still make the Benavidez fight happen after this. The winner can fight Benavidez afterwards in December or in January. The fight is not off the table, but I can’t wait for Benavidez the entire year to fight him.”

Cieslak is coming off a fourth-round stoppage of Jean Pascal in June, which earned him the interim WBC cruiserweight title. The Polish contender has twice challenged for world titles, losing decisions to Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC belt in 2020 and Lawrence Okolie for the WBO title in 2022, but he has not been stopped.

Usyk interest parked for later

The Opetaia pursuit comes after Alalshikh expressed interest in a heavyweight fight between Benavidez and Oleksandr Usyk. Benavidez had already cooled talk of an immediate move to heavyweight, saying: “[Alalshikh] didn’t talk to me directly, [but] he was talking to the people around me and said he wanted to make that fight. But honestly, I have a lot of respect for Usyk, and I’m not ready for that right now. If he came down to cruiserweight, then yeah, we could fight at cruiserweight. But I’m not moving up.”

Benavidez Snr has not ruled out that path, but framed it as a later move rather than the next priority. “We can get to that when we’re ready at heavyweight in three to five more fights, but if Opetaia wants to fight David, let’s get right to that, and we can do it on Cinco de Mayo weekend,” Benavidez Snr explained to BoxingScene.

Opetaia, 30-0 (23 KOs), has become central to the cruiserweight picture since signing with Zuffa Boxing. He was stripped of the IBF title after his March win over Brandon Glanton, has sued the IBF seeking reinstatement, and now holds The Ring cruiserweight title and the Zuffa belt.

A Benavidez-Opetaia fight would also carry promotional implications. Benavidez has one bout remaining on his current agreement with Sampson Lewkowicz, while Zuffa Boxing is 60 per cent owned by Alalshikh and has a multi-year broadcast deal with Paramount+. Benavidez Snr said his team are happy working with Lewkowicz and Premier Boxing Champions, with decisions over 2027 and beyond to come later.

For now, the immediate business is the WBC ruling on Mikaelian and the finalisation of Benavidez-Cieslak for December 12. If Benavidez wins and Opetaia beats Mikaelian in September, negotiations for a major cruiserweight fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend are expected to become the next focus.