By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says Demetrius Andrade is just a “little guy” who will be outsized by his son, David Benavidez, and will go to “sleep” on November 25th in their headliner fight on Showtime pay-per-view.
Benavidez only has one fighting style, and that’s to unload on his opponents with nonstop punches, beating them with his high volume work rate along with his huge size for the 168-lb division & power.
It’s important that the 26-year-old Benavidez not overdo it in training camp as he did for his last fight in March against former IBF 168-lb champion Caleb Plant.
Benavidez looked wasted & deathly with his appearance as if he’d done too much in camp with overkill. The southpaw Andrade will take advantage of Benavidez if he comes into their fight looking haggard again.
Jose Sr. says he’s been studying films of the unbeaten Andrade’s past fights during his long career, and he’s already formulating a game plan for WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) to use when they meet next month at the Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas.
The huge Benavidez will need to cut off the ring on Andrade if he’s going to be able to use his combination punching because he’s going to be on the move for sure.
Benavidez Sr has plan for Andrade
“I’m going to tell you something. I already know what we’re working on, and we’re going to wait until fight night, but I’ll tell you right now, in my opinion, I think he never made that adjustment from amateurs to professional,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to MillCity Boxing about Demetrius Andrade.
Demetrius has gotten away with using his amateur style in the professional ranks because his opposition has been unremarkable during his 15-year career. The best guys that Andrade has fought up to this point are these fighters:
- Jack Culcay
- Vanes Martirosyan
- Maciej Sulęcki
- Liam Williams
“He has good footwork, and he lunges in with big hooks and just throws punches from every angle, or he’s awkward,” said Benavidez Sr. “So we have a good plan. I’ve been studying what he does, and everybody has a plan until they get hit.
“So we’re working on a plan, and he’s working on a game plan also. Now we’re going to see who’s more successful. He can say whatever the hell he wants to say,” Benavidez Sr. said about Demetrius.
There’s no mystery about what the game plan is for Benavidez to defeat Andrade, as he’s going to throw a lot of punches like normal.
“He’s an undefeated fighter; he’s a good fighter. I can say whatever the hell I want to say until the day of the fight. If David comes 100% ready, this guy’s going to go to sleep, I’ll tell you that,” said Jose Sr.
Andrade “going to sleep”
“He’s going to go to sleep. David is too strong, man. David is a natural 168. To me, he’s a little guy coming up to 168,” Benavidez Sr. said about Andrade. “He’s fully developed. He’s a grown man. So he’s 35.”
Well, if Benavidez is going to be the first fighter to knockout Andrade, he’s going to need to be strong at the weight, considering he looked sickly last March against Plant. The power that Benavidez once had was gone, and he was forced to beat Plant with volume.
“He’s a great fighter, man, but we got to prove ourselves. We have to prove ourselves, and we have to make sure that we look spectacular and beat him in a fashioned way in order to prove ourselves,” said Jose Sr.
Benavidez has picked a great time to fight the 35-year-old Andrade because he’s older now, fighting two divisions above his ideal weight class at 154. This is not the prime version of Andrade from over a decade ago.
“He has to do the same, but I’m studying him, and I pretty much have an idea of what we’re going to do with him. He’s working on his game plan also with his team,” said Jose Sr.
Benavidez’s probable gameplan
- Cut off the ring
- High volume
- Combination punching
- Jabs
- Nonstop pressure
“So I think it’s going to be exciting. We never fought a fighter like him. So it’s going to be interesting. Also to put our game plan to put our game plan to work. He hasn’t fought a fighter like David. So we’re in the same boat,” said Benavidez Sr. about Andrade.
