By Dan Ambrose: It’s now official that David Benavidez will defend his WBC interim super middleweight title against Demetrius Andrade next month on November 25th in a Showtime pay-per-view contest.
We’ve seen that Benavidez can beat B & C-level opposition, but he’s never fought an elite-level guy during his career like Andrade.
Is Benavidez another example of a fighter who has been maneuvered by his slick promoters to make him look better than he actually is? It’s quite possible.
The 26-year-old Benavidez is the oddsmaker’s favorite to win due to his tremendous size and youth advantage over the 35-year-old Andrade, who started his career in the 154-lb division. Still, Andrade has an excellent chance of defeating Benavidez because he’s been at 168 too long.
Andrade is ranked #1 WBA, #2 WBO & #5 WBC and is finally getting a compelling fight after 15 years in the pro ranks. Up until now, the mega-fights that ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade has been chasing against Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Jermall Charlo, have eluded him.
Benavidez and the former two-division world champion Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) will meet in a fight that could determine the next opponent for four-belt 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez in 2024. That’s if Canelo decides he wants to face the winner.
Andrade probably has a better shot at getting the Canelo fight than Benavidez because he’s not going to rehydrate to 200 lbs on the night of the fight.
Canelo doesn’t mind fighting light heavyweights, but he’s probably not eager to step into the ring with a full-fledged cruiserweight on the night of the fight. That’s what he would be dealing with against Benavidez. The guy is as big as a house after he rehydrates for his fights at 168.
Benavidez’s last performance against Caleb Plant showed that he might not be the fighter that can become the #1 guy at 168 because he was badly exposed. If not for Plant fading late, like he always does, he would have sent Benavidez down to his first defeat.
The Benavidez-Andrade fight will take place at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. There’s no word yet on the price point for the event, but it’s reasonable to assume that it’ll be in the $70+ range.
Andrade sees weakness in Benavidez
“Yeah, I love this fight, I love this matchup, and I love it even more that it’s on November 25th because I know when I’m sitting around Thanksgiving and I’m with my family for a couple of days, I’d rather watch some boxing before I get into a fight with one of my family members,” said Chris Algieri to ProBoxing TV, talking about the David Benavdiez vs. Demetrius Andrade contest on Showtime PPV on November 25th.
The things that Andrade & his team likely spotted in Benavidez from his last fight against Plant are the following:
- Loss of power due to weight loss
- Wide open defense
- Slow foot speed
- pawing jab
The loss of power & energy for Benavidez is likely the major thing that Demetrius & his team have noticed about his recent performances. Andrade like a coyote surveying a field of lambs, and he’s spotted one that is showing weakness that he can pick off from the herd.
Demetrius knows what he sees in Benavidez, and he’s ready to sprint after him and rip him to pieces on November 25th.
“It’s good that we got we got some boxing over on a holiday weekend, but I love this fight,” said Algieri. “I think ‘Boo Boo’ [Andrade] is one of those guys, he’s extremely, extremely intelligent. All those things that you said, Tim, his team sees, and that makes him even that much more dangerous.
“They’re [Team Andrade] taking this fight for a reason. They didn’t have to take this fight. ‘Boo Boo’ is a two-division undefeated world champion. That is extremely rare. He is not taking this fight unless he sees something. He sees an opportunity, and just like you said, Tim.
“Those things that are there that Benavidez lacks. Listen, we all see that. ‘Boo Boo’ definitely sees that. He sees an opportunity, and his team sees an opportunity. They’re going to come out guns blazing,” said Algieri.
Andrade sees weakness in Benavidez
“Boo Boo tends to start really fast in fights. He’s awkward, he’s tricky, and he can punch, he can really punch,” said Algieri. “A lot of times, he hurts guys early, and then he goes into thinking mode and sets guys up and distances himself and really separates as his class starts to make him rise.”
This fight could come down to how well the cruiserweight-sized Benavidez makes weight, as he’s clearly outgrown the super middleweight division and needs to move up to 175 pronto.
Benavidez was badly emaciated, making weight for his last contest against Caleb Plant, and there were some who worried about him. Andrade will take full advantage of Benavidez if he’s fighting at 50-70% capacity due to weight loss.
“We’ll see, this is a great matchup. If Benavidez can secure a win here, and especially if he can do it in an exciting fashion or make it clear cut, that’s a big, big move for Benavidez and his squad and what he can do in the future. But ‘Boo Boo’ is a very live dog here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the upset were pulled.”
You could tell from looking at him that ‘The Mexican Monster’ went through pure hell to make the 168-lb limit for that fight, and it’s surprising that he didn’t bail on the division after.
“This is a great fight and even better than it’s on Thanksgiving weekend. I’m looking forward to it,” said Algieri about the Benavidez vs. Andrade fight.
Fans will get a chance to see if Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) is the next guy to take over the 168-lb division or just a weight bully who has taken advantage of his smaller, less talented opposition.
We’ve seen that Benavidez is good enough to beat fighters like Plant, David Lemieux, Kyrone Davis, and Ronald Ellis, but Andrade is a much higher-level fighter. That’s a weak bunch, but those are the guys that Benavidez has built his glittering 27-0 record on.
