David Benavidez at present holds a record of 29-0-0 (24 wins by knockout) and he is expected to fight on 14-12-2019. This will be the soon to be 28 year old Benavidez first defense of his WBC interim 175 lb title he won on June 15th versus Oleksandr Gvozdyk and he has to put on a good show this time to call attention to the killers in the division.
Is Benavidez Being Careful To Not Take A Risk Until The Huge Fight
Jesse Hart, who is ranked #12 by the WBC, is said to be Benavidez’s opponent in what could be a bout held in Arizona. Fans won’t take it kindly if the opponent is the 35-year-old Hart (31-3, 25 KOS) because that will make the second time Benavidez has faced an older fighter since his move to the 175 division which will give the notion that he is avoiding young fighters on purpose.
Benavidez’s first fight at the division came against 37-year-old Gvozdyk and Benavidez looked terrible against him in every possible way.
Should Hart be the target of Benavidez, then it would be expected that the management of the fighter will protect him until the winner of the October 12th undisputed light heavyweight championship between WBA champion Dmitry Bivol and IBF, WBC, WBO champion Artur Beterbiev.
Benavidez is the mandatory challenger for that fight, and for the one who will be left standing when Bivol and Beterbiev fight, there is a lot of money waiting. But the two are expected to engage in a second fight soon, so Benavidez has to get active. Benavidez may have to box a couple of time as he waits for the rematch depending on how long it will take.
Canelo’s Criticism: The fight that Benavidez was “Nothing” at 175
In an interview with Canelo – yes yesterday, Canelo stated that Benavidez is ‘nothing’ at 175, fighting such opposition same size as him and is not the same fighter who was seeking size limit of 168lbs same as Golovkin to face diminutive fighters.
Benavidez is not the same fighter without the freakish size advantage he used to have over his diminutive opponent at the super middleweight division. He needs to get stronger and adapt his tactics to 175 because he will not survive the number one contenders in this division. As we have seen, Benavidez is very average at 175 without the size edge he used to possess when fighting at 168.
His fight with Gvozdyk was somewhat of a 12-round draw but the judges were bizarre and scored it in his favor. Some fans are of the opinion that was more of Benavidez getting the A-Side Red Carpet business class treatment. I also had the Benavidez-Gvozdyk fight scored as a draw, and no wonder why, Benavidez looked really really bad.
The bout was good in a way it exposed Benavidez as the normal mediocre fighter at 175. He is not going to win in this weight division without near insignificant enhancements in power, defense and endurance. It’s not that I don’t want to notice it. Benavidez is not built to beat such opposition at 175 or higher and that his career will be soon plunged into a ditch once his management puts him against a good 175-pounder.
Probably at some point Benavidez will look for a way to come back to 168 to reignite his career as soon as he starts losing 24/7 to his opposition at 175, as he will not wish to remain a gatekeeper in that division. Things were so good for Benavidez at 168, and it’s shocking that all this is going to vanish at the light heavyweight division.
Sampson Lewkowicz, Benavidez’s promoter, revealed in an interview with Boxingscene that plans are under way for the fighter ‘The Mexican Monster’ to fight on December 14th. Social media fans are not very thrilled with the news, as they would like to hear about an opponent, ideally a skilled one such as David Morrell, whom Benavidez has no intention of facing for fairly apparent reasons.
Also lately defeated, Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic was said to be linked with the fight against Benavidez and it would be perfect to match him as a comparison test for the Mexican. Kalajdzic fought morrel very closely was defeated in a rather close fight on the 3rd of August in Los Angeles in the fight that was for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight belt.