David Benavidez to battle David Lemieux for interim WBC super middleweight title

By Boxing News - 12/16/2021 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez will fight David Lemieux for the interim WBC super middleweight title now that World Boxing Council 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez has been given permission by the sanctioning body to go up to cruiserweight to challenge champion Ilunga Makabu.

The WBC revealed on Thursday that they’ve given WBC 168lb champion Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) to go up in weight to take on WBC cruiserweight champion Makabu (28-2, 25 KOs) for his title, as long as he wins his next fight on January 29th against challenger Thabiso Mchunu.

Instead of the WBC stripping Canelo of his 168-lb title with their organization, they’re going to allow him to park it temporarily to go up in weight.

Canelo unlikely to reclaim WBC 168lb title

The WBC will probably wind up stripping Canelo of his title if he elects NOT to return to defend against the winner of the Benavidez vs. Lemieux fight.

It’s fair to assume that Canelo will NEVER attempt to reclaim his WBC super middleweight title if it means that he’s ordered to defend it against Benavidez. That’s a fight that Canelo has arguably been avoiding like the plague since he moved up to the 168-lb division in 2018.

Yeah, Canelo did an excellent job of capturing all the titles at super middleweight, but only because he didn’t have to face Benavidez to grab one of those belts.

If Benavidez defeats former IBF middleweight champion Lemieux (43 4, 36 KOs) to capture the interim WBC super middleweight title, the odds of Canelo returning to reclaim his WBC title to defend against Benavidez are slim.

Lemieux unbeaten at 168

Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) is too dangerous for Canelo to come back down and defend against him. If Canelo does return to the super middleweight division, it’ll be to face the likes of Jermall Charlo, who is a vulnerable fighter with a chin problem.

Lemieux, 32, has won his last five contests since being easily beaten by Billy Joe Saunders by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in 2017.

After that loss, Lemieux moved up to super middleweight and has looked good in winning his last five bouts, albeit against less than stellar opposition.

Image: David Benavidez to battle David Lemieux for interim WBC super middleweight title

Lemieux tends to fall apart when he faces good opposition, and that’s not expected to change when he gets inside the ring with Benavidez to fight for the interim WBC 168-lb title.

The Canadian Lemieux’s career defeats have come at the hands of these fighters:

  • Marco Antonio Rubio
  • Joachim Alcine
  • Gennadiy Golovkin
  • Billy Joe Saunders