By Dan Ambrose: David Benavidez doesn’t view his Demetrius Andrade as having a lot of power to worry him ahead of their headliner fight on November 25th on Showtime PPV at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez, who some would argue is a cruiserweight masquerading as a super middleweight, has the youth, massive size, and power advantage over the 35-year-old Andrade, but that doesn’t mean he’ll win.
The opposition Benavidez has faced during his career is something awful, apart from ‘Sweethands’ Caleb Plant, and he’s never been tested in the true sense of the word.
Benavidez’s specialty is stalking his opponents, taking a boatload of headshots, and then dishing out punches in bunches to score knockouts. It’s rarely pretty, but Benavidez gets the job done.
As Andrade notes, Benavidez isn’t a one-punch knockout guy but rather a fighter who batters his opposition into submission over a number of rounds.
On November 25th, we’ll see if Benavidez can handle the incoming firepower from Andrade, who will be catching him with shots that he won’t see, and those are the most dangerous kind.
It won’t be the biggest shock in the world if Benavidez gets knocked out, as it would just show that he’s another hype job, a product of soft match-making. In other words, this era’s version of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
The southpaw Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) could surprise WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) if he’s overlooking his punching power in this contest because he’s definitely a knockout threat in this fight, especially if ‘The Mexican Monster’ leads with his face.
Benavidez, 26, takes pride in his ability to walk through his opponent’s shots to deliver his shots, but he hasn’t faced any yet in the pro ranks that had any pop with their punches.
As such, the former two-division world champion Andrade could surprise Benavidez if he foolishly thinks he can walk through everything he throws.
Power
David Benavidez: “I think his power is at a five,” said Benavidez to Premier Boxing Champions when asked to rate the punching power of Demetrius Andrade on a ten scale.
Demetrius Andrade: “He definitely has some power; he has a few knockouts. He’s not a one-shot type of knockout guy, but he does have a few knockouts. So I give him eight or seven, around that when it comes to power.”
Grit
Benavidez: “Grit, probably five.”
Andrade: “Grit, we don’t really know the grit, but it seems like he has grit, of course, but we really don’t know until somebody like myself really challenges him by hitting him with certain shots and stuff like that. But overall, he has shown that he does have good grit. So give him a ten.”
Footwork
Benavidez: “He does have good footwork, so give him an eight.”
Andrade: “Two, give him a two [LOL].”
Defense
Benavidez: “His defense is pretty good, so give him a seven.”
Andrade: “Two.”
Ring IQ
Benavidez: “His ring IQ is good as well. So give him a seven.”
Andrade: “I think he’s getting overall better. I think he’s around a five now.”
Resume
Benavidez: “I don’t think his resume has anything to do with him because he doesn’t really have too many big fighters on his resume, but he’s been hungry and wanted to fight people. He just hasn’t got the opportunity, just like I had with my last fight.
“So, I don’t think the resume has anything to do with it. He’s a great fighter. So, we’re expecting him to look good in the fight, and that’s what I’m preparing for. I’m preparing for a great fighter.”
Andrade: “I don’t really know. I don’t follow him like that and haven’t followed all his fights, but I know he’s fought some good solid guys. To get in the ring with his caliber, my caliber, it ain’t easy to step in the ring. Every step is to get better, so I give him a ten.”
Speed
Benavidez: “I say he has a seven for speed. He has good speed.”
Andrade: “He has good speed, real good speed. On a one to ten, he’s one of the fastest 168s out there, so give him a ten.”
Conditioning
Benavidez: “Probably a seven. He’s got good conditioning.”
Andrade: “He’s a guy that starts off slow but finishes strong. I give him a ten.”
Punch resistance
Benavidez: “I haven’t seen him in there with a really big puncher before, but as of now, he’s held up pretty well. So, I’d say about eight.”
Andrade: “He throws a lot of punches from round one to round twelve, so I’ll give him a ten.”
