By Adam Baskin: A fight between highly ranked super middleweight contenders Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) and the ‘Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) is in the finalization stage of negotiations for the fall on pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
If Benavidez loses this fight, his hopeless vision of fighting Canelo Alvarez will effectively be finished. Benavidez looked awful in his lat fight against Caleb Plant, so you got to give Andrade a good chance of winning.
The date of the Benavidez-Andrade fight is still yet to be determined, but hopefully, we’ll hear something soon.
The former WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez and his dad, Jose Sr., have been hounding poor Canelo Alvarez nonstop for years, seemingly to the ends of the earth, trying to get a fight against the red-haired superstar.
Benavidez & Jose Sr. have taken pressuring of Canelo to another level, and it’s no wonder he’s put them on ignore. It’s too bad those two haven’t shown the same amount of enthusiasm toward accepting the callouts from the talented Cuban David Morrell Jr. because he’s made them look scary.
Boxing fans on social media are already complaining about the Benavidez-Andrade fight being on PPV, as they don’t feel that this isn’t the type of match-up that would warrant it being one that people would need to pay to see.
Although the 26-year-old Benavidez holds the interim WBC 168-lb strap, that’s just a trinket title, not even a secondary belt. That was a belt that the World Boxing Council put on the line for Benavidez’s fight last year in May 2022 against David Lemieux.
David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade are in the process of finalizing a deal for a super middleweight fight on PPV in the fall in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN. Intriguing showdown for one of boxing’s best talents, who’s coming off a career-best win, a decision over Caleb Plant.…
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) August 9, 2023
“David wanted to fight, but I don’t think his team feels he’s ready,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to MillCity Boxing about WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr.
It would be nice to hear Morell Jr’s side of the story, as it wouldn’t be surprising if it was Benavidez’s side that didn’t want this fight.
“Even his coach, who I respect a lot and I think is a great coach, said that he’s not ready for David [Benavidez] yet. That is going to be a big fight in the future.
“I’d rather fight him now because he is getting better, better and better. I think David [Benavdez] could stop him in seven or eight rounds. I don’t think he has the experience of a professional,” said Jose Sr.
“He did have a lot of amateur fights, and I think he did win a gold medal, but it’s a little bit different here. I think we are going to [eventually] fight him [Morrell], and I think that’s going to be a great fight, and it’s all up to their team when they want to make that fight.
“That’s a fight that we want to fight,” said Jose Sr. about Demetrius Andrade. “He should have all the experience in the world. I think he’s a slick fighter, a very dangerous fighter, a guy that I like a lot, and actually, I talked to his father.
“I talk to him when I see him and the last time I saw him was when Rolly fought Tank. I took a picture with him [Andrad]. I think he’s a great fighter. think he’s a very dangerous fighter, but yeah, if he’s watching right now, let’s make that fight happen.
“It’s all up to them, and let’s make it happen. We got to look at spectacular, and the only way that we can look spectacular is we got to stop him. I think maybe nine, or eight rounds, I see a pretty good chance of stopping him.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great fighter; he’s a really good fighter people want to see knockouts, people want to see people stopping other people. So that’s what we’re aiming for, and you know David, he comes to war, man.
“That’s all we want, but we’re ready. We’ll be ready to go 12 rounds, but I think uh stopping him will be a statement,” said Jose Sr. about his hopes for his son Benavidez to knockout Andrade.
