Benavidez readies for Glendale bout
The return of Phoenix native David Benavidez to the area for a big-time boxing main event is a little over a month away. But this past weekend in Dallas, Benavidez spoke to reporters about the fight and what he would like to do beyond it.
The Benavidez-Lemieux bout is for the vacant interim WBC super-middleweight title and will be aired on Showtime on May 21. Benavidez said he’s looking for either a knockout or a stoppage of the fight.
In his last fight, Benavidez stopped Kyrone Davis in the seventh round at Footprint Center on November 13, 2021.
“I think I have five straight stoppages since I came back from my suspension. That’s the plan,” Benavidez said. “I want to go in there and I don’t want to leave any doubt. The stoppage is always the main thing I go for.”
Lemieux (43-4) has been a major federation middleweight champion. Benavidez (25-0, 22 knockouts) has held WBC belts but was stripped of both for out-of-ring matters and suspended.
“With the style that David Lemieux has, it’s basically tailor-made for my style to go in there and stop him. But it’s not going to be easy,” Benavidez said. “David Lemieux is really motivated too. He’s fighting for another title just like I am. He’s a big puncher. I’m going in there and I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fun fight.”
After the fight, Benavidez is considering
a move up to light heavyweight, from 168 pounds to 175. If he can’t get a fight with lighter-weight fighters such as Caleb Plant, He said he’d like to fight some of the big names in the weight class, Demetrius Andrade, Jermell Charlo, or Edgar Berlanga, or he’ll mull over the move up in class.
“I’ve been trying to make all these fights happen for a long time. I feel like right now, when I win the WBC interim title, I’ll have a little bit more leverage,” Benavidez said. “But if I can’t make them happen, it’s because the fighters don’t want to make the fight with me happen.”
Benavidez has been training out of Seattle of late, raising a family in the Pacific Northwest. Phoenix is his birthplace and where he was first introduced to boxing, watching his older brother José succeed as a professional with both brothers trained by their father.
“I think fighting in Arizona again is going to be even better than last time. A title fight against another great exchampion,” Benavidez said. “People out there love me. I have a lot of fans and supporters in Arizona. I’m excited. A lot of people are going to be there and I’m definitely going to put on a show.”