NEW YORK – David Benavidez didn’t think over the past few months that he would share a dais with Anthony Yarde to promote his next fight.

Until the middle of last week, Benavidez believed he would fight another British light heavyweight in the fall. Once it became clear that Callum Smith hadn’t agreed to battle Benavidez in the main event of “The Ring IV”, Anthony Yarde’s handlers closed a deal with Turki Alalshikh to challenge the WBC light heavyweight champion in a DAZN Pay-Per-View main event November 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) explained how he wound up agreeing to fight Yarde to The Ring before a press conference Friday afternoon at Hard Rock New York in Times Square.

“We were ready to take the fight with Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde,” Benavidez said. “I thought we were gonna do Callum Smith, to be honest with you. It came as a surprise to me that we made the decision on Anthony Yarde, because I thought we were in negotiations for months with Callum Smith. But something happened between him and Eddie [Hearn] – I’m not saying something happened between them. They didn’t come to an agreement or whatever, and then we went with Anthony Yarde and the deal was made.”

Phoenix’s Benavidez realizes the hard-hitting Yarde is a dangerous opponent, but he considers Smith a better fighter overall. Liverpool’s Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) has lost only to undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) and former undisputed light heavyweight champ Artur Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) in 12 years as a pro.

Mexico’s Alvarez defeated Smith by unanimous decision in their 168-pound title fight in December 2020 at Alamodome in San Antonio. Russia’s Beterbiev stopped Smith in the seventh round of their 175-pound championship clash in January 2024 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

Smith, 33, won the WBO interim light heavyweight title in his last bout. The former WBA super middleweight champ beat British contender Joshua Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision in that competitive, entertaining fight February 22 at ANB Arena.

Ilford’s Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) lost by eighth-round technical knockout to Beterbiev in January 2023 at OVO Arena Wembley in London. Yarde, also 33, previously lost a split decision to fellow Brit Lyndon Arthur (then 17-0), which he avenged by fourth-round TKO, and by 11th-round TKO to former light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev (then 33-3-1) in August 2019 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Kovalev’s hometown.

“I look at every fight as a difficult fight,” Benavidez said. “I don’t see any easy fights, but the one that had more to offer was Callum Smith. That’s why I was going for that one more, you know, because he has the WBO interim title. I think he’s the better fighter, to be honest with you, but Anthony Yarde is still a dangerous fighter. Every fight he’s been in you could tell he has serious power and he only has losses to elite fighters, so it’s not an easy fight, either. But to be honest, I think the better fighter is Callum Smith.”