Error code: %{errorCode}
Benavidez, Opetaia: Who are boxing's five most avoided world champions?
Boxing is a sport of highly trained combat athletes, all competing at the top level to achieve their childhood goal of becoming a world champion one day.
When a fighter becomes a world champion, they have reached the pinnacle of the sport and secured a lasting legacy, but at the same time, they draw a target on their backs – destined to be pursued by hungry contenders until the day they lose or retire from the sport.
But there is a class of champions that is so dangerous and dominant that even those hopeful challengers hesitate when offered an opportunity at the throne – earning themselves the epithet of ‘avoided’.
Throughout history, there have been legendary champions who have been sidestepped by even the most promising contenders – Gennady Golovkin, Sonny Liston, Guillermo Rigondeaux and the late Marvin Hagler all spring to mind as some of the most avoided fighters in history.
Who in the modern game has done enough to earn themselves the same title?
Here is a list of the five most avoided world champions in boxing today.
Jai Opetaia
Jai Opetaia has become the biggest star at cruiserweight – breaking out when he toppled a great of the division in Mairis Breidis over 12 rounds to become the IBF champion in 2022.
The Australian is undefeated in 28 fights and has knocked out 22 of his opponents. His slick but lethal southpaw style has seen him take over at 200lbs.
Since Oleksandr Usyk scattered the titles to head to the heavyweight division, there have been calls for a unification fight, and Opetaia looked like the man to do it – and in double quick time.
But if you don’t hear the final bell against Opetaia, you get viciously knocked out – which has without doubt put the rest of the division on notice.
Opetaia is now in a desperate pursuit for a unification fight, but it seems as though none of the other champions are willing to risk their title against him. He finds himself forced into lower-level defences against challengers hoping to catch Opetaia on an off night, but inevitably fail in devastating fashion.
His most recent win, particularly, will have put off the WBC champion, Badou Jack and the man who holds the rest of the titles, Gilberto Ramirez.
Opetaia knocked out Claudio Squeo in the fifth round and shattered the Italian’s jaw to prove his dominance. He is due to make another mandatory defence later this year and may have to step up to heavyweight to truly challenge himself.
Chris Hyde/Getty Images
David Benavidez
David Benavidez has an argument to take the title of the ‘most avoided’ man in boxing.
The American has been an elite-level fighter for over eight years, since his days campaigning in the super middleweight division.
He claimed the WBC super middleweight title when he was just 20 years old and pursued a fight with the unified champion Canelo Alvarez, but could never gain an audience with the super middleweight king.
After having his full title stripped for missing weight he came back and claimed the interim title - defending it against two of the best in the division, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.
But Benavidez realised he could not get the title fights he wanted at super middleweight and moved to light heavyweight, immediately claiming the WBC interim title against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Since making his move up and having his interim title elevated, he has once again struggled to get the matches his resume and impressive knockout record demand.
He handily dispatched of David Morrell, after struggling to get a fight for almost a year, to defend his interim title, and has now been pursuing a fight with former undisputed champions Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
Rather than getting the unification fight he perhaps deserves, Benavidez will now defend his title against Anthony Yarde on November 22. His wait to get his hands on Bivol or Beterbiev goes on.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
Janibek Alimkhanuly
Janibek, in most people’s eyes is the best middleweight in the world right now and holds two of the four major belts, but has yet to face any of the other top fighters in the division.
The Kazakh’s first world title arrived via email after Demetrius Andrade vacated the title in 2022, shortly after Janibek had won the interim title, knocking out Danny Dignum in the second round.
He added the IBF title to his collection in 2023, taking the belt from Vincenzo Gualtieri via sixth-round stoppage.
Since then, Janibek has only managed to fight twice, defending his titles once in 2024 and again earlier this year.
But, unlike some others, Janibek does not idly wait for his opportunities to come. He has been relentlessly pursuing the WBC champion Carlos Adames the entirety of this year, but Adames has yet to agree to fight the hard-hitting Kazakh.
Fans are still waiting to find out who the best fighters at 160lbs is, but that does not appear to be the fault of Janibek as he tries to move towards undisputed status.
Steve Marcus/Getty Images
Bakhram Murtazaliev
Bakhram Murtazaliev has become the most feared man on the super welterweight scene in the last few years, running through all the low-level opposition thrown at him in the first 20 fights of his career before claiming the IBF title by knocking out Jack Culcay in the eleventh round.
However, he did not fight for a year and a half before he won his world title, and has only had the chance to defend it once since he became champion in April 2024.
It has been a struggle for Murtazaliev to get the fights he truly wants in a talent-stacked division – a testament to the threat he poses to the incumbent champions.
His first opportunity to show his true level came against a former champion in Tim Tszyu, who he demolished inside three rounds, and while it was a dynamite performance, it won’t have helped in unlocking even bigger fights.
He is one of the most impressively well-rounded fighters in one of the most exciting divisions in the sport but he has been unable to line up a title defence for the best part of 12 months.
(Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
Caroline Dubois
The younger half of the Dubois siblings in professional boxing, Caroline, at only 24, has already been considered the best in the lightweight division for a number of years and certainly has the highest ceiling.
Dubois has been clear that she has ambitions of becoming the undisputed champion of her division, but has struggled in making any meaningful progress in that direction so far, only managing to pick up the WBC belt last year after Katie Taylor chose to vacate her title rather than take a risky fight against Dubois.
Taylor was looking for big-money fights against Chantelle Cameron and a potential third fight with Amanda Serrano at super lightweight instead.
Dubois is young, powerful and has a great amateur pedigree behind her. She is part of a new breed of female fighters who have trained since childhood due to the immense growth of the women’s game over the past decade – thanks to trailblazers like Taylor, Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano.
But all her talent and promise leave her chasing shadows when calling out the three other champions in the lightweight division and she has not had a fight in over six months. Her next bout is yet to be announced.
Matt McNulty/Getty Images
Watch James DeGale vs Matt Floyd live on DAZN
BKFC 81 sees Olympic boxing champion James DeGale make his Bare Knuckle debut. Watch the fight and whole fight card live with a DAZN subscription.
Annual and monthly options available, click here for pricing and options.
