WBC Makes Opetaia Mandatory for Benavidez-Cieslak Winner

David Benavidez hasn't even gotten past Michal Cieslak yet, and the WBC already has his next assignment waiting. It's Jai Opetaia, the man a lot of people think is the best cruiserweight on the planet.

At its convention in Acapulco this week, the WBC agreed to take Opetaia in at No. 2 in its cruiserweight ratings after his team said he would give up the WBA "Regular" title he holds. Then on Wednesday it was confirmed that Opetaia is the mandatory challenger for whoever wins Benavidez vs. Cieslak on Saturday, Dec. 5, Uncrowned reported. Boxing News and Fightnews' convention rundown back that up, and the WBC's own ratings report says the Board of Governors approved the WBA Regular champion's entry at No. 2 once he gives up that title.

How It Got Here

This isn't coming out of nowhere. Back in September, the WBC vacated its cruiserweight title, elevated Cieslak from interim to full champion, signed off on Cieslak vs. Benavidez as a mandatory, and ruled that the winner of Noel Mikaelian vs. Opetaia would be next in line. Opetaia won that fight on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas. This week's convention is what actually puts him in the WBC ratings, and it cost him a secondary belt to get there.

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Dec. 5 First

Benavidez holds the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles. He goes home to Arizona to face WBC champ Cieslak at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, headlining a PBC pay-per-view on DAZN through Prime Video, Premier Boxing Champions says. Win, and he's holding three of the four belts. Uncrowned reported that Benavidez is hoping to fight Opetaia in May and then go after a mega-fight with Oleksandr Usyk in September.

There's one more thing on Opetaia's calendar. Six days after Benavidez-Cieslak, he moves up to heavyweight to face Deontay Wilder in the official co-main on Fury vs. Joshua on Dec. 11 in Cardiff. The convention ruling makes him the WBC's cruiserweight mandatory, and that fight against one of the hardest punchers the heavyweight division has ever seen is still in the way.

Same Week, Same Convention

Acapulco has been busy. The same convention put Lester Martinez's push for a Canelo mandatory on hold and ordered Andrew Cain to face Takuma Inoue for the bantamweight title.

The Kimster's Take

This is the fight cruiserweight fans have been waiting on, and now it's written down. Benavidez has been talking about Usyk. The WBC just reminded him the best cruiserweight he hasn't fought is the Australian southpaw a lot of people rank No. 1 in the division. Opetaia giving up a belt to get in line tells you how badly he wants it. The catch is the order of things: Benavidez has to beat Cieslak, and Opetaia has to come out of a heavyweight fight with Wilder without getting hurt, all inside one week in December. If both of those go right, May could be the best fight of 2027 that nobody has to beg for.

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