David Benavidez, Michal Cieslak set for December 5 unification bout

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It’ll come a week earlier than expected to steer clear of Joshua vs Fury, but David Benavidez vs Michal Cieslak is officially on the schedule for December 5th on DAZN PPV. Though none of the parties in play specified the location in their social media announcements, both BoxRec and Piotr Jagiello of TVP Sport claims it’ll land in Phoenix, which matches earlier reporting. Thanks to Noel Mikaelian’s Zuffa adventure, which cost him the WBC cruiserweight title for declining to fight mandatory challenger Benavidez (32-0, 26 KO), this will be a three-belt unification. Poland’s Cieslak (28-2, 22 KO) smashed up Jean Pascal for the interim belt two Junes ago, extending his knockout streak to seven since his ugly failed title bid against Lawrence Okolie back in 2022. He’s fallen short in his two biggest fights to date, but his last decision win came two Presidential administrations ago. He and Benavidez should give us a show and hopefully set the stage for a bout with Jai Opetaia for all the marbles next year. No official undercard as of yet, but piecemeal reporting gives us an idea. Per Julius Julianis, Vergil Ortiz Jr will meet Keith Thurman in a damply anticipated clash of generations and interim WBC middleweight champ Jesus Ramos Jr, who’s stuck in the queue while full champ Carlos Adames deals with a garbo voluntary defense against Gerome Warburton and then mandatory challenger Meiirim Nursultanov, fights TBA. Chris Mannix adds that the sputtering Elijah Garcia will face rising Irishman Tommy O’Toole in a pretty dang solid super middleweight showdown.