By Sean Jones: David Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) will now be defending his WBC super-middleweight title against #9 WBO Roamer Alexis Angulo (26-1, 22 KOs) on April 18 in Phoenix, Arizona. [@MikeCoppinger reporting news].
This is the third scheduled opponent for the 23-year-old Benavidez in the last month. The merry-go-round of opponents for Benavidez started with Lionel Thompson, and then Caleb Truax and now the 35-year-old Colombian Angulo.
Fans not excited about Benavidez facing Angulo
There are better fighters in the World Boxing Council’s top 15 rankings that would be a better choice than Roamer, but this is who has been picked out for Benavidez to defend against.
Fans on social media are criticizing this choice of opponent, as they want to see Benavidez face IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant, who has been talking about wanting to fight him. Benavidez vs. Plant is an option for 2021 if they can come together to get the deal done.
With there still being over a month to go before Benavidez fights on April 18, it won’t be surprising if Angulo is replaced with another opponent.
Fans mustn’t mistake Angulo with the well known Alfredo Angulo, as they’re different fighters. Alfredo has better power than Roamer and a lot more experience. You can argue that Alfredo is a better fighter even 37 than Roamer, who looks very poor at times.
The Colombian Roamer doesn’t throw enough punches and goes into the sparring partner mode. At 35, Roamer isn’t young, and he’s probably not going to last more than a few rounds against Benavidez. Roamer’s bad habit of covering up for prolonged periods may result in Benavidez bombing him out.
The only notable guys on Roamer’s resume is former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and Anthony Sims Jr. Angulo lost to Ramirez by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on June 30, 2018, in Oklahoma, City. The scores were 119-109, 120-108 and 119-109. Ramirez had an easy time beating Angulo.
Benavidez has star potential
At 23, Benavidez is someone that has star written all over him, but he needs to get the fights against the like Canelo Alvarez, Callum Smith, Gennadiy Golovkin, Plan and Billy Joe Saunders. Of that list, only Plant has shown interest in fighting him, but nothing has come of that talk.
If Benavidez can’t get one of the big names to fight him, he should consider moving up to 175 to take on one of the champions. There are some talented champions and ex-champions at 175 that would be perfect for Benavidez. We’re talking about Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Marcus Browne.
Benavidez recently defeated Anthony Dirrell by a 9th round knockout last September. Before that, Benavidez stopped J’Leon Love in the second round in March of last year. It seems like Benavidez is improving, and showing better knockout skills than when first turned pro in 2013. He’s a whole different fighter now compared to the guy that started out.