“They’re lying. We want to fight him. Let’s make that fight happen. Tell the manager to contact me, and we will make that fight happen in five minutes. Do you have his manager’s number? Let’s go,” said Benavidez Sr. to Boxingscene. “Nothing happened, but we still want to fight him.

“We’re here to fight anybody. If Beterbiev’s ready, let’s make it happen. Who wants to fight? Let’s see. I think they’re all talk.”

Beterbiev recently questioned Benavidez’s willingness to face him, claiming he agreed to the fight only for the proposed matchup to fall apart shortly afterward. The Russian also suggested that Benavidez’s team changed direction and eventually pursued a fight with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez instead.

Since then, Benavidez has moved up to cruiserweight and stopped Ramirez to become a unified champion. He has also been linked to potential fights against Jai Opetaia and Noel Mikaelian as he continues to pursue additional titles.

At light heavyweight, Beterbiev remains one of the leading names in the division despite losing his undisputed championship to Dmitry Bivol. A third fight between Beterbiev and Bivol has continued to be discussed following their split series.

For now, the disagreement over whether a Benavidez fight was ever close to being finalized remains unresolved, with both camps maintaining very different versions of events.