Paulie Malignaggi Still Leans Opetaia to Beat David Benavidez

David Benavidez is 32-0 with 26 knockouts and just added the WBO and WBC cruiserweight straps to his résumé — but Paulie Malignaggi still isn't ready to make him the favourite against Jai Opetaia. The two-division former champion told BoxingScene that if the two unbeaten men ever share a ring, he'd narrowly side with the 30-0 Australian.

The context matters here. Benavidez made a 25-pound leap from light-heavyweight to cruiserweight in May and stopped unified WBA and WBO champ Gilberto Ramírez inside six rounds. That performance did the heavy lifting on Malignaggi's opinion — it moved him from doubting whether Benavidez could even hang with a man Opetaia's size to accepting he can be genuinely competitive.

Why Malignaggi Isn't Flipping

Malignaggi was blunt about how close he thinks it is. He called a Benavidez-Opetaia fight very difficult to read, and said before the Ramírez win his instinct was that dragging Benavidez up in weight would just get a good fighter hurt for no good reason. Now he sees a real contest — one he actually wants to watch.

Still, he stopped short of switching his pick. Malignaggi said he'd edge Opetaia slightly and wouldn't be shocked if Benavidez was not only competitive but won outright. Changing his forecast to Benavidez, though, felt way too premature to him. It's a narrow lean, not a bold call.

The Road to Get There

There's business to handle first. Benavidez, 29, is expected to face newly-crowned WBC titleholder Michal Cieslak in a three-belt unification bout on Saturday, December 12, in Phoenix, Arizona. The winner of that one is mandated to meet Opetaia, cruiserweight's marquee name.

Line up the numbers and you understand the caution. Opetaia's lineal championship and 23 knockouts against Benavidez's 26 make for a genuine 50-50 on paper, and neither man has a blemish. A clean night in Phoenix could tee up a Cinco de Mayo 2027 showdown — and give Malignaggi the fight he says he now wants to see.