Benavidez, Lemieux bring similar styles to their fight
Plenty of boxers have gone back and forth at each other boasting about what they will do to their opponent during a session with media, even in a simple one-on-one interview.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday between a pair of super middleweight contenders, Phoenix native David Benavidez and Montreal’s David Lemieux, on Tuesday during a video conference call. The two fighters are the main event of a night of boxing on Showtime May 21 from Gila River Arena, with the WBC interim super middleweight title on the line.
For both, winning this fight means a possible shot at Canelo Alvarez for the 168-pound championship, as it is often mandatory that the interim belt winner gets to face the actual champion.
Alvarez has his own light heavyweight (175 pounds) bout coming up on May 7.
“I’m very ready to go back home and give the fans a great fight and walk away with that title,” Benavidez said. “I feel like this might be one of the fights of the year. We both have a lot at stake. We want to get to the next level in our careers. The type of fighters that we both are, we’re not boxers and we don’t shy away from fights.”
Lemieux said he and his team have been watching Benavidez for some time, and have come away impressed with how Benavidez “comes to fight.”
“Two bulls going in there and may the best man win,” Lemieux said. “I don’t want to lose this opportunity.”
Benavidez said he believes that Alvarez will have to vacate the WBC super middleweight title if he doesn’t give he or Lemieux a shot after all fighters have fought next month.
Lemieux said he isn’t looking past this fight, but that there are rules that need to be followed in boxing to give the interim title holder a shot at Alvarez.
Benavidez, who defeated Kyrone Davis last November at Footprint Center in a fight thrown together less than three weeks after his would-be opponent, José Uzcategui, failed a drug test, is in need of a fight against a quality opponent. Lemieux is 43-4 with 36 knockouts and has been a middleweight
world champion.
Benavidez has been calling out some of the top fighters at or near his weight class, including Caleb Plant, Jermell Charlo and Demetrius Andrade. None have accepted a fight with him.
“That’ why I have so much respect for David Lemieux, too, because he accepted this fight. Unlike Caleb Plant, unlike Canelo, unlike Charlo, all those other guys,” Benavidez said. They think they have so much confidence in their head but they’re scared to take the fight at the end of the day.”
Lemieux, 33, looks to put the first blemish on the 25-0 Benavidez’s record.
“He’s a really good fighter, but everybody’s beatable. You train for them and nobody’s invincible. There’s no cheating boxing,” Lemieux said.
Benavidez said he quickly requested another fight in the Phoenix area after his win over Davis, after the hometown support he received from local fight fans, plenty who have followed him since the early days of his career, left an impression on he and his family.
“This is my first world title fight back at home,” Benavidez said. “This is really like a dream come true for me. Everything is falling into place for me . ... The ambience is right, the energy seems right. (Lemieux) seems like he’s trained hard and knows the magnitude of this fight. I know the magnitude of this fight. Honestly for me, this is probably one of the biggest fights of my life. I’m just looking forward to going in there and giving my people a great fight back at home and just bring the boxing scene up in Phoenix, Arizona.”