By Dan Ambrose: In a battle between #1 and #2 with the WBC, David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) will take on David Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs) for the interim World Boxing Council 168-lb title on May 21 in the main event on Showtime at the Footprint Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
ESPN is reporting that Lemieux, 33, and Benavidez have signed their contracts for the May 21st fight.
The Benavidez-Lemieux winner will be in a position to challenge WBC super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez or be elevated to the full champ if the Mexican star vacates or is stripped of his belt should he refuse to face the victory.
With Canelo, you just don’t know what he’ll do because fights whoever he wants, and he arguably dislikes being pressured by boxing fans, sanctioning bodies, media, or the networks to face certain opponents.
Lemieux is an oddity, as he keeps being given chances to fight in high-profile matches despite many past defeats in high-profile bouts.
To his credit, Lemieux has won his last five fights to earn a #2 ranking with the WBC at 168. However, Lemieux’s wins have come against middle-of-the-road opposition rather than top-tier opposition.
Lemieux’s recent wins:
- David Zegarra
- Fancy Ntetu
- Maksym Bursak
- Gary O’Sullivan
- Karim Achour
As you can tell from looking at this list, Lemieux hasn’t exactly been wearing himself out against the upper crust of the super middleweight division, has he?
Nevertheless, the WBC liked what they saw of Lemieux enough in those fights to give him a #2 ranking with their organization at 168. Hence, Lemieux will be coming out of mothballs on May 21st to face his first elite-level opponent in five years since his embarrassingly one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Billy Joe Saunders in December 2017.
Benavidez will likely make very easy work of Lemieux in a fight that will end within six rounds if I’m not mistaken. After this fight, Benavidez wants to battle former two-division world champion Demetrius Andrade.
Benavidez won’t get a chance to fight Canelo this year because the Mexican star is already scheduled to face Dmitry Bivol on May 7th, and Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th.
Canelo’s third fight this year in December will be against John Ryder or Ilunga Makabu.
“I want to challenge myself,” said Benavidez to ESPN. “I’m tired of talking s— and going back and forth with fighters that don’t want to fight. It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of energy. If a fighter does want to fight, that’s what I’m here for. I’m not here to be on social media talking s— to everybody.”
“Samson was talking more about the fight and the offer that PBC made to Canelo and when they said Boo Boo, it just came out of nowhere,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Tru School Sports.
“We’re very serious about fighting Boo Boo. I spoke with Eddie Hearn about that fight and taking it to Showtime. He’s willing to do that,” said Benavidez Sr.
“I spoke to Andrade’s father to make sure before I proceed to make that fight happen. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time. Right now, we’re focused on Lemieux. He hits hard and he’s a dangerous fighter. We’ve to take care of business that day.
“If everything goes well and I think it’s going to go well. We have to look impressive in that fight. I’m looking for the stoppage. I think we can stop him in six or seven rounds. That’s what I think,” said Jose Sr on his belief that Benavidez will knock out Lemieux.
“We’re not going for the knockout. We want to give the fans a good show, but David has to look impressive. After that, hopefully, everything goes well, and then we can get that fight with Boo Boo. That would be a great fight because nobody wants to fight him.
“We want to show the people what we have and we’re ready to take risks like that. If everything goes well, we can try and get Charlo and all these fighters. Those are the type of fighters on our list if everything goes well.
“With Boo Boo, we have to sit down and it has to make sense for him and for us to make that fight. But like I said, money doesn’t matter to us. Al Haymon gave Canelo a good offer to fight, a $100 million.
“We told him that we’re willing to fight for the minimum in order for Canelo to be paid more. We just want the opportunity and the chance to fight him. He didn’t want to take it like that.
“We’re not here for the money. The money will come eventually once you prove yourself and fight the guys that are tough. That’s what we want to do. We want to prove ourselves and then the money will come. The decision is for me and David to make on who he’s ready to fight,” said Jose Benavidez Sr.
