By Huck Allen: Undefeated David Benavidez will be battling Kyrone Davis tonight on Showtime in the main event in a PBC event at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The fight action starts at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) will be looking to impress fans and show the boxing world that he’s the true #1 fighter in the 168-lb division, not Canelo Alvarez, who became the undisputed champion last Saturday night by beating Caleb Plant.
In the co-feature tonight, former welterweight world title challenger Jose Benavdiez Jr fights Francisco Emanuel Torres in a 10-round bout at 154
David Benavidez, 24, is ranked #1 with the World Boxing Council at super middleweight. He lost his WBC title last year when he weighed two pounds over the limit for his title defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo.
Last February, Canelo then petitioned the WBC to fight for the vacant title against his old sparring partner Avni Yildirim. He quickly captured the belt by stopping the Turkish fighter in the third round.
In Benavidez’s last fight, he stopped Canelo’s sparring partner Ronald Ellis in the 11th found in a WBC title eliminator to become the mandatory challenger for that title last March.
Prediction:
Benavidez will wear Kyrone down and stop him by the fifth round in a one-sided affair. Although Kyrone is tough, he’s not a first-tier level fighter, and he’s badly overmatched in this fight.
This fight is an example of a ham & egger level fighter taking on what many boxing fans feel is the #1 fighter at 168 in Benavidez, and it’s not going to be competitive.
Kyrone Davis (16-2-1, 6 KOs) replaces former IBF 168-lb champion Jose Uzcategui as Benavidez’s opponent. Uzcategui tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug EPO and was subsequently pulled from the card.
Davis is coming off an eight round unanimous decision win over Martez McGregor last September. Before that, Kyrone fought to a 12 round draw against former two-time WBC 168lb champion Anthony Dirrell on February 27th.
Kyrone’s two defeats on his record came against Patrick Day and Junior Castillo.
Benavidez is ready to put on a good show
“I’m extremely happy and motivated, and I’ve worked hard for this fight,” said David Benavidez to the Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer. “I feel no pressure at all. Everybody keeps asking me if I feel pressure.
“I feel ready; it’s time to go. It’s unfortunate, but he was trying to be sneaky about it because we had gotten drug testest four times before that,” said Benavidez about Jose Uzcategui.
“EPO makes sure you don’t gas out, and you recover faster. But I don’t think that would have saved him anyway. I feel like I was the superior fighter, got the superior punching power, and got better combinations. I feel like I would have ended him anyways.
“And I was feeling like my moment to come,” said Benavidez how he’s surpassed his brother Jose with his career in the last four years. “Timing is the best thing ever. I always knew my time was going to come, but I didn’t know when it was going to come.
“My brother had that tremendous fight with Terence Crawford, but I feel like that opened the doors for me too because everybody is interested in the Benavidez name. So, I took over from there too, and kept having great fights.
“Now, I feel like I’m excited because the boxing world has both Benavidez’s back in the mix, and Phoenix, Arizona has two sons to look up to.
David knows he’ll get his chance
“I definitely feel like that, but the damage has been done already,” said Benavidez when asked if he feels he should be given a shot to fight Canelo Alvarez to try and regain his WBC super middleweight title he lost on the scales for his fight against Roamer Alexis Angulo in August 2020.
“I’m the one that put myself in that situation [losing WBC title in coming in overweight], but I’m still the #1 contender, so it’s going to happen sooner or later,” said Benavidez.
“I’m still knocking on the door. My last fight [Ronald Ellis] was a WBC title eliminator, and this was going to be another WBC title eliminator, so I feel like I’m the #1 contender, and people are asking for this fight.
“So all I got to do is go in there and look good and be the same fighter I’ve been my whole career, and the opportunities will come soon,” said Benavidez.
