By Sean Jones: David Benavidez weighed in at 167 1/4 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for his 12-round title WBC super middleweight eliminator against Ronald Ellis for Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Ellis (18-1-2, 12 KOs) also weighed in at 167 1/4 lbs.
This is good news that Benavidez, 24, was able to make weight, as it quiets his critics, who thought he would come in heavy as he did in his last fight.
Benavidez showed that he’s a professional, and he can make weight when he has access to a gym the week of his fights. With Benavidez looking good, it would be a major upset if Ellis were to beat him.
The winner of the Benavidez-Ellis match will be mandatory for WBC 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez.
Former WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) has a simple game plan of applying pressure on Ellis, 31, and daring him to try and deal with him.
“I’m going in there to get an early stoppage,” said Benavidez in predicting a knockout of Ellis. “I’m not overlooking Ronald Ellis.”
“They’re talking s*** for Instagram and social media. I won’t be on social media because I make things happen in real life,” said David Benavidez to Fighthub about Jermall Charlo.
“Charlo called me out and said he was going to knock me out. I said, ‘I accept his challenge of this fight. I’ll knock you the f*** out too.’ Then he said I needed I needed a COVID vaccine, and then he said he wouldn’t fight anybody under 25. It’s nothing but excuses. It’s excuses after excuses with everybody.
“I feel like you earn the big money fights by beating the great fighters first, and your career skyrockets after you win a big fight like that,” said Benavidez.
If Benavidez can’t see what time it is as far as the Jermall Charlo fight, someone needs to clue him in. Jermall Charlo does NOT want the fight with him; it’s plain as day.
It’s the same thing with Canelo Alvarez, who could have fought Benavidez when he held the WBC 168lb title for three years from 2017 to 2020, but he chose not to.
Benavidez is being avoided, and he will have to forget about Canelo and Charlo and not mentioning them.
Benavidez needs to focus on fighting the best possible fighters at 168, and if they’re too obscure, he should look to take some scalps from the 175-lb division.
Grabbing two or three pelts at 175 should do the job of turning Benavidez into a star, as long as he can get a fight against one of them.
Artur Beterbiev, Dimitry Bivol, Gilberto Ramirez, Joe Smith Jr, or Jean Pascal would be ideal for Benavidez.
“Like Pacquiao, how much did he get after he knocked out Barrera the first time? I don’t think he got more than $100,000. When he beat Marquez, I don’t think he got more than $200,000,” said Benavidez.
In Pacquiao’s case, he had guys that weren’t afraid to fight him in Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez. Things are different with Benavidez in this era.
Getting popular fighters like Canelo, Charlo, and Gennadiy Golovkin to fight Benavidez is too much to hope for. Benavidez is not only wasting his time hoping for them to fight him, but he’s not going to get anywhere by calling out 23-year-old Edgar Berlanga.
That guy’s promoters at Top Rank are matching him with utter care, making sure he faces guys that will topple over the first time he lays a glove on them.
Berlanga’s opposition has so horribly bad that he’s like a guy turned pro instead of someone with 16 fights under his belt.
Other weights on the Benavidez vs. Ellis card:
- Isaac Cruz 134 lbs. vs. Matias Romero – 134 ¾ lbs.
- Terrell Gausha – 154 ½ lbs. vs. Jamontay Clark – 154 ½ lbs.