By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez will be fighting an opponent to be decided on the undercard of Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia on March 16 on FOX pay-per-view at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, according to ESPN. Benavidez, 22, has been out of the ring for the last 10 months since beating Ronald Gavril by a 12 round unanimous decision on February 17.
Benavidez’s bout on the Spence-Garcia card is for 10 rounds. Benavidez’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz will be looking to match the 6’2″ former WBC champion against a top contender, according to ESPN.
“We’re looking for a top contender for David to fight,” Lewkowicz said to ESPN.com. “He doesn’t need a tune-up.”
Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs) just turned 22-years-old this week on December 17, and he’s clearly young enough to where he doesn’t need tune-up fights like older fighters do. After winning the vacant World Boxing Council 168 lb title last year in September, Benavidez’s career was going smoothly. He made a successful first defense against Gavril earlier this year, and things were looking bright for him. There were plans for Benavidez to take on some bigger names. Unfortunately for him, he tested positive for cocaine last summer on the 27th of August by VADA. The positive test by Benavidez prevented him from defending his title against mandatory Anthony Dirrell this year.
The positive news for Benavidez’s boxing fans is he’ll get a chance to recapture his WBC title by facing the winner of the February 23 match between former WBC 168 pound champion Anthony Dirrell (32–1-1, 24 KOs) and Ani Yildirim (21-1, 12 KOs). The winner of that fight must face Benavidez, according to ESPN.com.
Benavidez is known for his huge punching power, and his aggressive fighting style. However, he’s huge for the super middleweight division, and it’s unknown how much longer he’ll be able to continue to make weight. Benavidez looked badly weight drained in his first fight against the Romanian Gavril in September of last year, making it a lot tougher contest for him than it should have been.
In the rematch last February, Benavidez’s weight was more point point, and he looked sharp in pounding out a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision. At 22, Benavidez’s days of making weight for the super middleweight division appear to be numbered. He might be able to make weight for the 168 lb class for a little while longer. Eventually though, Benavidez will need to go up to 175 so that he doesn’t continue to drain himself to make the 168 lb weight limit.
Depending on who Benavidez’s promoter finds for him to fight on the Spence vs. Garcia card, it might be the most entertaining fight on the card. Spence-Garcia is expected to be a mismatch.