David Benavidez says he plans to stay at 168 until he gets the chance to fight for all four belts after Saturday’s defense of his interim WBC super middleweight title against Demetrius Andrade on Showtime PPV.
What happens if Benavidez loses to Andrade on Saturday night? Will he stay at 168 for a rematch with Demetrius, or will he stop killing himself, making weight for a division he should have quit five years and move up to 175 or cruiserweight, where he belongs?
We know the real reason why Benavidez is willing to put his body through torture to stay at 168. He wants the Canelo Alvarez payday to make untold riches from that fight, where even if he loses, it wouldn’t matter because the rest of his life would be pure gravy due to the dough from that contest.
Looking like a perfect copy of Lord Farquaad from the movie Shrek, Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) insists that he will stay at 168 until he gets the opportunity to battle for the four belts.
Benavidez has been telling fans that Andrade is a copy of Caleb Plant, inadvertently revealing that this is a cherry-pick for him. If he thought long and hard about what fans would think about him saying Andrade’s a duplicate of Plant, he’d have kept that thought to himself.
Instead, he’s been blurting that info, making it clear that he selected Andrade because he feels it’s a sure-thing win, which he couldn’t do if he took on Morrell, Bivol, or Beterbiev.
Benavidez needs to prove himself
If Benavidez wanted to prove something, he’d try and earn the Canelo fight by facing one of these three killers:
– David Morrell
– Dmitry Bivol
– Artur Beterbiev
Canelo should insist that Benavidez fight at least two of those three fighters before he grants him his wish to fight him becaue he’s taking the backdoor route by facing Andrade, Caleb Plant & David Lemieux.
That’s a weak bunch, but the only three Benavidez had the confidence to face. If he takes on Morrell, Bivol, or Beterbiev, the jig is up, as he gets beaten, and his hustle to get that Canelo payday would be over.
There’s nothing wrong with those fighters, Lemieux, Andrade & Plant, but they sure are NOT elite-level or even A-level. If Benavidez wants the Canelo fight, he should be prepared to work for it by fighting Morrell, Bivol, and/or Beterbiev.
Benavidez could have fought one of those fighters to prove himself worthy of fighting Canelo. Still, instead, he picked out the 35-year-old Andrade, who he admits looked poor in his recent debut at 168 last January against journeyman Demond Nicholson, getting dropped by him and looking horrible during the later rounds.
It’s revealing what’s behind Benavidez’s motives for selecting Andrade rather than Morrell, Bivol, or Beterbiev. He wants to ensure he doesn’t get beaten before he gets the Canelo payday, and there would be a high risk involved with fighting any of those three.
Therefore, Benavidez picked out the 35-year-old Andrade to ensure he doesn’t get beaten before he gets the Canelo fight he and his dad, Jose Sr., have been campaigning for the last three years.
Key components:
- Speed – Andrade
- Power – Andrade
- Experience – Andrade
- Youth – Benavidez
- Ring IQ Andrade
- Mobility – Andrade
Benavidez to stay at 168 until gets chance to fight for ALL the belts
“Until I get an opportunity to fight for all the belts,” said David Benavidez to the media on when he’ll be moving up to 175. “I’ve been in this weight class for ten years. I’m at the doorsteps to something big, so I’m going to stay here until I get the opportunity [to fight for the undisputed super middleweight championship].”
If Canelo lays the hammer down by telling Benavidez that he’s not going to let him get the opportunity to face him until he runs the gauntlet against Morrell, Bivol & Beterbiev, he’ll be forced to move up to 175 becaue he’s probably not going to want to risk his hide getting in with any of those killers and get exposed as a simple face-first plodder.
“Just stay patient. The opportunities are hard to come by,” said Benavidez about his advice to Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. “Keep knocking on the door and keep doing what you got to do. I’ve been a professional for ten years, and this is barely my second pay-per-view fight. It takes patience.
“Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, he’s a legendary fighter and is going to be one of the greatest in history. He’s got a lot of talent, but just stay patient. He’ll get there,” said Benavidez.
Considering how weak Benavidez’s resume is, he’s not someone to be coming from up high, giving Boots Ennis advice about his career. Benavidez has never fought anyone good for him to be coaching Boots Ennis.
The two times that Benavidez captured the WBC 168-lb title, he did it against these fighters:
– Anthony Dirrell – 38
– Ronald Gavril
“I worked extremely hard for this. I knew the task at hand. I think the fight with Caleb Plant motivated me even more to be the best that I can be, and yeah, you guys are in for a treat on Saturday,” said Benavidez.
“I go in, and I be David Benavidez,” said Benavidez when asked how he can look spectacular against Andrade. “I always find a way to win.”
If the win over Plant really motivated Benavidez, why did he select Andrade, a newbie to the 168-lb division, instead of WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell or Dmitry Bivol?
“Everybody criticizes me, saying I have no defense, no footwork, no none of them, but I always find a way to win [against the level of opposition he faces], and I dominate,” said Benavidez.
You have to call it like you see it. Benavidez moved around the ring like Frankenstein’s monster against Plant last March, and the only reason he won is because Caleb got tired and just stood in front of him from round six, allowing him to get his volume punches off.
David ready for Andrade fast start
“We’ll see what he wants to do. If he starts strong, I’m waiting to pull that trigger too,” said Benavidez. “Let’s see who is first. It says a lot in my last fight. Caleb Plant was a great offensive fighter, a great defensive fighter, but look who got hit the least in that fight.
“His jabs only landed at 9%, and his power shots only at 20%. So that says a lot. A lot of people think I can’t do a lot of stuff, but I’ve been boxing since I was three years old, so I know exactly what I’m doing,” said Benavidez.
The reason Plant wasn’t landing his jabs is because he was flicking them in a ‘keep off’ manner, as his main intention was to try and keep Benavidez from crowding him and throwing his machine-gun combinations.
Plant wasn’t stepping into his jabs with the intention of landing them. He was just hoping to keep Benavidez from crowding him, which he failed to do.
“I think last night,” said Benavidez on when was the last time he watched his performance against Plant. “I think it was one of my greatest performances to date. I worked so hard to get to this level, and then having that happen to me, it was a great fight.
‘A lot of the fans enjoyed the fight, so I’m just happy to give you guys the entertainment that you guys want to see,” said Benavidez.
His performance against Plant was barely better than Jose Uzcategui’s, and no one calls him great. Plant gassed out against Uzcategui in the later rounds and was bloody & battered far worse by the end of it than he was against Benavidez, who doesn’t hit nearly as hard.
“There’s a lot of good fights. I don’t mind fighting anyone,” said Benavidez. “It’s my job as a fighter. I like John Ryder; he’s a good fighter. Callum Smith is at 175. All these guys. They can all get it. I’m here to give you guys what you want to see. I like my chances against anybody, so I’m willing to fight whoever.”
Question: Why is Benavidez interested in fighting John Ryder, a guy who was recently beaten by Canelo? Shouldn’t Benavidez be fighting Morrell, Bivol, or Beterbiev? Is Chris Williams not seeing something here? Why would Benavidez prefer to fight Ryder than Morrell, apart from cherry-picking purposes?
Benavidez says his defense will be improved
“I think so,” said Benavidez when asked if he’s the most explosive fighter in boxing. “I’m the only person that knocked somebody out [journeyman Rogelio ‘Porky’ Medina (36-8, 30 KOs)] in the past like ten years [May 20, 2017].”
It’s one thing being explosive against a journeyman like Medina with nearly ten defeats on their resume, and another thing is trying to fight like that against Morrell, a fighter that would capitalize on Benavidez being defensively wreckless.
“That’s definitely the type of fighting style I like. I like the Manny Pacquiao fighting style, so that’s kind of what I’m trying to be. I like to be an offensive fighter. You guys can tell,” said Benavidez.
“My defense is going to be even better in this fight. It’s going to be a completely different David Benavidez, and you guys are going to like what you see,” said Benavidez.
