Beterbiev says he was supposed to square off against Benavidez before “The Mexican Monster” opted instead to move up to the cruiserweight division to stop Gilberto Ramirez inside six rounds last month for the WBA and WBO titles.

“He had a fight with Anthony Yarde [on November 22], and I agreed to fight him after that,” Beterbiev told Match TV in Russian.

“His team apparently didn't expect me to agree so quickly, so they immediately changed their mind and chose Ramirez. That was a year ago. Generally, this has become the norm in boxing – sometimes I'll box, sometimes I won't, choosing opponents, I like this one, I don't like that one. I have a different mentality. That's foreign to me.”

Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) was supposed to be featured on the Benavidez-Yarde undercard as part of the “The Ring IV: Night of The Champions” show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but his planned fight against Deon Nicholson never came to be.

The 41-year-old hasn’t fought since suffering a majority decision loss to Dmitry Bivol in February of last year. Beterbiev won their first fight by unanimous decision in October 2024 to collect all of the crowns at 175 pounds.

Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) has since taken a share of the titles in the weight class and currently holds the WBC belt.

"Benavidez is the kind of guy who talks a lot more than he does,” Beterbiev said. “But it must be said that he's being handled very skillfully. He's already a world champion in two weight classes. But his boxing is dirty, and some of his victories are certainly questionable.”