By Allan Fox: David Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) will be battling replacement opponent Kyrone Davis (16-2-1, 6 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round bout on Showtime on November 13th after his previously scheduled opponent Jose Uzcategui tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently pulled from the card.
Benavidez-Davis will be taking place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. With it being a 10-round fight instead of 12, it’s likely no longer going to be an IBF/WBC 168-lb title eliminator as previously scheduled.
BENAVIDEZ WITH SHOWCASE FIGHT
This obviously isn’t the greatest replacement for Benavidez in being given second-tier fighter Kyrone Davis, but it’s better than nothing. Benavidez will be able to showcase his talent against a guy that doesn’t belong inside the same ring as him on November 13th.
Davis would likely be overmatched against Benavidez’s smaller brother, welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr. We’re talking mismatch.
It would have been better if an actual top 15 contenders were found to be used as a replacement opponent for Benavidez, but he’s too dangerous for any of the other promoters to volunteer one of their fighters to face him on short notice.
Kyrone won’t last long against Benavidez, but hopefully, he can make a fight of it before he gets chopped down.
Benavidez, 24, is obviously disappointed at seeing his fight with former IBF 168-lb champion Uzcategui falling apart after he reportedly tested positive for the banned substance rEPO during a VADA test in October 27th.
It would have been interesting to see how Benavidez would have done against Uzcategui, as briefly held the IBF super middleweight title from 2018 to 2019 before losing it to Caleb Plant.
The 26-year-old Kyrone Davis fought to a 12 round draw against 37-year-old former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell last February in Los Angeles. This wasn’t a prime version of Dirrell, however.
It’s unlikely that Davis would have done nearly as well against a prime version of Dirrell because he was an excellent fighter during his day.
BENAVIDEZ WANTS A TITLE SHOT
In 2018, Kyrone lost a 10 round unanimous decision to Patrick Day and in 2016, he was beaten by Junior Castillo by an eight round unanimous decision.
Kyrone’s best wins have come against Marcos Hernandez and Jaime Barboza. Those aren’t exactly household names, but neither is Kyrone.
It probably doesn’t matter because WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez isn’t likely going to defend against the winner of the Benavidez vs. Davis fight even if it was a title eliminator.
Canelo will likely vacate all four belts if he defeats IBF champion Caleb Plant in their undisputed clash on November 6th and then move up to 175 to go after the champions in that weight class.
If Canelo vacates some or all of his super middleweight titles, Benavidez will go after one of them against the highest-ranked contender.