David Benavidez has spent most of his career taking on the bottom feeders of the super middleweight division. That, of course, was never his intent. For the 26-year-old, he simply wanted to face the best of the best. Now, things are finally falling into place.
Earlier this year, the current WBC interim champ faced his first elite opponent in Caleb Plant. Having banked that win, Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) is now on the verge of marching straight into another big-time matchup.
According to Mike Coppinger of ESPN, Benavidez is simply crossing his t’s and dotting his i’s as negotiations between himself and Demetrius Andrade continue to move in the right direction. Although the former two-division champ has presented his opponents with bemusing tricks and crafty angles, Benavidez believes he’s seen the likes of Andrade before.
“I feel like he’s the same type of fighter,” said Benavidez to BoxingScene when asked to compare Andrade to Plant.
It isn’t every day that Andrade finds himself involved in one of the biggest fights of the year. For much of his career, the former Olympian believes he’s been avoided. Perpetual call-outs of Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Jermall Charlo didn’t amount to anything. So, reluctantly, Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) took on who was available. Although it led to world title reigns in two separate divisions, Andrade’s level of opposition has been chastised left and right. Those criticisms, however, will be a thing of the past if he lines up against Benavidez.
Likely to be viewed as the favorite heading in, the 26-year-old isn’t sleeping on the undefeated former champ that will be standing across the ring from him. His respect level for what Andrade brings to the table has always been at an all-time high. With that said, there are parallels to the impending clash between them and his showdown vs. Plant. Ultimately, while he expects Andrade to give him one helluva fight, Benavidez predicts a second-half offensive avalanche.
“I feel like I’m just too strong. Once we get to the middle rounds I took over and I see the same thing happening in this fight.”
By Hans Themistode