Undefeated super middleweight contenders David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade will meet in their highly anticipated fight this Saturday night, November 25th, in Las Vegas.
The pay-per-view price for Benavidez vs. Andrade is $74.99, a fair deal given the quality of fights on this loaded card on Showtime PPV. In the chief support bout, unbeaten middleweight champion Jermall Charlo comes out of hibernation to take on Jose Benavidez Jr.
Jermall is the ‘big’ Charlo and the one who was known for his power-punching. He’s going to be looking to steamroll the smaller, weaker Benavidez Jr. in a fight that should be entertaining while it lasts.
Unlike Jermell, the unbeaten Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) means to hurt his opponents and will make it difficult for Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs). This fight will be like a train wreck and might not end well for Jose Jr.
You can argue this is the best card that Showtime has put on during the 36 years they have been putting on boxing events since 1986.
Last year, the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy card in September 2022 went for $79.99, and that fight turned out to be a dud, and the undercard was filled with mismatches from top to bottom.
Canelo-Golovkin III was an awful contest, looking like two fighters in a glorified sparring match. This Saturday, Benavidez & Andrade are expected to battle tooth & nail until the bitter end.
Andrade plans on winning “every single round”
“I’m fighting what I believe is still champion because nobody beat him for his title, but he beat himself for his lack of discipline at times,” said Demetrius Andrade to Lance Pugmire at PPV.com, talking about his fight this Saturday night against WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez on Showtime pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
“I’m going to go in there and win every single round,” said Demetrius on his plan for the Benavidez fight. “I can make it a one-sided fight. It could be boring, but I have the IQ to make anyone look like they don’t belong in the ring with me. Then get in the ring and beat me up,” said Andrade when told that some people say he’s a ‘boring’ fighter.
It’ll be a shock to the boxing world if Andrade puts on a clinic, outboxing the slow-footed Benavidez, who moves like he’s on a pair of stilts at times. As Demetrius points out, he will make Benavidez look like he doesn’t belong in the same ring with him.
Andrade says Benavidez hasn’t been fighting great opposition, which has made him look better than he actually is. When you’re facing tomato cans like Benavidez, you look like a million bucks.
Benavidez’s last five opponents:
- Caleb Plant
- David Lemieux
- Kyrone Davis
- Ronald Ellis
- Roamer Alexis Angulo
Those are NOT good fighters, none of them, so it’s understandable why Benavidez has looked so good. Plant is the best of the sorry bunch, and he’d already been knocked out by Canelo Alvarez in 2021. Jose Uzcategui came close to beating Plant in 2019.
“Of course, every guy I got in the ring with, their a** hit the canvas. People use my fights for studying, for angles, for footwork, for set-ups, for traps, and for all those things. For any fighter that wants to be a champion, they’re going to watch Demetrius Andrade,” said Boo Boo.
Benavidez NOT a big puncher
“As far as David being a hard-punching guy, I haven’t seen one fight where he hits any of his opponents with one punch, and they go tipping over,” said Andrade, pointing out that Benavidez isn’t a huge puncher. “He’s a built-up accumulating type of guy.”
Benavidez is not a huge puncher. He’s a volume guy who takes advantage of stationary opponents who stand there, letting him get his shots off. Andrade isn’t going to stand in front of Benavidez and let him unload punches in bunches on Saturday night.
If you look at all the guys that Benavidez has fought, they’ve been fighters that stood still in front of him, sitting ducks and not having the sense to move around.
“Of course, he squeezes to take off the weight. He’s naturally a heavier guy in the sense of it, but I’m 6’1″. He’s 6’2″. It’s not a big difference, and I carry my weight well for power, speed, and endurance,” said Andrade. “This will be my second fight at 168, and what better way than to fight one of the elite best fighters out there?”
At times, Andrade didn’t look all that great in his debut at 168 against Demond Nicholson, especially in the later rounds of their fight last January. Nicholson appeared to drop Andrade with a body shot at one point in the contest. However, Demetrius scored two knockdowns and showed his usual outstanding boxing skills in dominating Nicholson like no one else had before.
“You can go by Benavidez’s resume in his last four fights, and who has he fought?” said Andrade. “Nobody is fighting the most elite fighters out there today because there are only so many of them, and nobody has gotten the opportunity to do that amongst the golden boy [Canelo Alvarez].
Andrade tried calling out Canelo at the post-fight press conference after his victory against Billy Joe Saunders in May 2021 and was told to leave by the Mexican star. After that incident, Andrade gave up trying to get a fight with Alvarez, realizing that he was only interested in fighting hand-picked opposition.
Benavidez hasn’t gotten a clue and has continued to ask for a fight with Canelo, making him & his dad, Jose Sr, look forlorn & desperate.
“Everybody has been waiting for that opportunity. I have never been one to wait for that,” said Andrade. “I’m trying to get everything else going to demand and entice the fans to why we should be fighting the best fighters but holding off for business’s sake. I understand it is a business.
“I believe David Benavidez is one of the best 168-pounders out there, and I’m excited for this fight. This is an opportunity for people to finally make money by betting on me.
