Timothy Bradley has shared his thoughts on the boxing intelligence of David Benavidez and Dmitry Bivol, analyzing who possesses superior ring IQ ahead of a potential clash between them.
Both camps have engaged in early discussions for a possible showdown later this year, which would crown the undisputed light-heavyweight champion. Benavidez has also suggested the fight take place at a 190-pound catchweight, allowing him to defend his WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles.
The 29-year-old won those belts last Saturday by stopping Gilberto Ramirez in the sixth round, becoming a three-division champion in his first fight at 200 pounds. Bivol also has a victory over Ramirez, following his dominant decision win against Canelo Alvarez in 2022.
Since then, the Russian unified all four major belts at 175 pounds by outpointing Artur Beterbiev via majority decision in February 2025. He later underwent back surgery and vacated the WBC title, allowing Benavidez to be elevated from interim to full champion.
Now recovered, the 35-year-old Bivol will make a mandatory title defense against Michael Eifert on May 30. Regardless of that performance, Hall of Famer Bradley said on his YouTube channel that he expects Bivol to cause Benavidez serious trouble.
“Bivol has the perfect style to beat him. I like me some David Benavidez – I can’t wait ’til he fights again – but [fighting] Bivol is a recipe for disaster,” Bradley said. “[Benavidez has] got a high boxing IQ, too. But he’s stubborn. Bivol isn’t stubborn. Bivol is one of those guys that’ll do the complete opposite [to] what you think he’s gonna do. He’ll have a plan A and a plan B. When he fought Ramirez, he stepped to Ramirez. We thought he was going to box because Ramirez was so damn big. Ya’ll probably don’t think Bivol would step to Benavidez – you’ll be surprised.”
In addition to Bivol’s boxing brain, Bradley highlighted his foot speed as a key factor against Benavidez, who is more known for his hand speed.
