Darshan Desai Uncrowned Thu, October 22, 2026 at 6:10 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two of boxing's most exciting fighters, David Benavidez and Vergil Ortiz Jr., will be sharing the stage later this year.
Benavidez, the unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion, will fight Polish WBC titlist Michal Cieslak on Dec. 5 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. And in the co-feature, Ortiz will end a 13-month layoff against former champion Keith Thurman.
The pay-per-view doubleheader will be available on DAZN and Amazon Prime Video, and it will also be part of the DAZN Ultimate subscription.
Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs), a three-division world champion, surged through the pound-for-pound rankings in May after his impressive sixth-round destruction of Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez.
Cieslak (28-2, 22 KOs) captured the WBC interim title by stopping Jean Pascal in June 2025. He hasn't fought since, but he received the biggest news of his career when he was upgraded to full champion in September after Noel Mikaelian's title was stripped.
Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs) is the WBC interim super welterweight champion, but his Dec. 12 fight with Thurman will be contested at the middleweight limit — and it is expected Ortiz will continue his career at 160 pounds.
Ortiz was last in action when he knocked out Erickson Lubin in two rounds last November. He was in negotiations to face Jaron "Boots" Ennis in one of boxing's most anticipated fights, but Ortiz found himself tangled in a legal battle with his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy, instead.
Ortiz and Golden Boy ultimately settled and agreed to complete the three fights remaining on their promotional deal beginning in December.
Thurman (31-2, 23 KOs), a former unified welterweight champion, is looking to bounce back from his one-sided KO defeat to WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora in March. Thurman, 37, has been inactive in the last few years and has not recorded a significant win since his unanimous decision victory over Mario Barrios in February 2022. He will be a heavy underdog against Ortiz.
Source: Sports
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