Demetrius Andrade isn’t worried about the KO threats from David Benavidez that he and his father Jose Benavidez Sr., have been doing in the build-up to their fight on November 25th.
(Photo credit: Victor Ren/SHOWTIME)
Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) says it’s just “boxing talk” from the 26-year-old Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs), whether to try and intimidate to get an edge or create interest from boxing fans to motivate them to order the fight on Showtime PPV.
The southpaw Demetrius has the slick skills and more than enough power in either hand to take advantage of any mistakes WBC interim super middleweight champion Benavidez makes in their fight at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Andrade is easily the best opponent Benavidez will have faced in is career, and that’s why there’s a possibility of an upset on November 25th.
When you get a fighter with limited experience like Benavidez, they get exposed when they’re finally matched against a high-level fighter. It’s going to be exciting to see if Andrade can neutralize Benavidez’s offense and outbox him to win a decision.
We haven’t seen Benavidez attempt to box before, as he’s always looking to destroy his opponents. It’ll be interesting to see if Benavidez can use his boxing skills to win this fight if he’s not successful at scoring an early knockout.
Andrade is only making his second fight at 168 after moving up from 160 last January to defeat Demond Nicholson by a ten round unanimous decision.
That was a fight that was largely dominated by Andrade, but Nicholson had his moments late.
Benavidez is “not the most athletic fighter”
“He’s not the most athletic fighter out there, and I’m not the only one that can say that,” said Demetrius Andrade to the media on Friday, talking about his fight with David Benavidez on November 25th.
Indeed, Benavidez doesn’t have the best athletic skills in the sport, but he does have size, power, and a high punch output. He plods forward and then overwhelms his opponents with size and power.
“He’s an inch or two taller than me, but it’s not that much different,” said Demetrius on the 6’2″ Benavidez being a little taller. “People have this perception of him being a big guy. I’m also a big guy.”
Weight could hurt Benavidez
Benavidez’s weight is the real problem for Andrade because he looks like a rehydrated cruiserweight on the night of his fights. That size is difficult to deal with for anyone. Eventually, Benavidez won’t be able to make 168m and will need to move up in weight, but not before facing Andrade.
“Yeah, he puts on a lot of weight, but that could be in my favor. Nobody over here is running away from this challenge,” said Andrade. “I’ve been trying to challenge the top people for a long time.”
If Benavidez rehydrates 20 lbs over his weigh-in weight, that could favor Andrade because he’ could be sluggish.
“I went to people’s press conferences. I got kicked out, I got kicked out, and I got kicked out,” said Andrade. “Nothing prevailed for me. No follow-up storyline from the reporters. It did its thing, and it died down because they’re shutting the s**t down.
“You can’t even mention by name to some of these fighters because reporters will get shut down, and they can’t do their reporting. I understand it’s a business for reporters, too. They’ve got YouTube channels. They want to get paid. They got ads.
“I understand how it works, but we also got to understand that we support fighting. It takes the whole movement if you guys want to see the fight. It’s definitely a good moment to give myself and boxing in what they’ve been missing out on some full slickness, and the guy to do it and the style to do it is me.
“I have to be the one to step up to the plate and make it happen. David Benavidez is a great fighter. No matter who he spars with, we’re going to get in the ring and tangle. That’s all that matters.
“I’ve got the skills and the ability to beat anybody they put in front of me,” said Andrade. “That’s just boxing talk,” said Demetrius about Benavidez saying he’s going to knock him out.
