Leaving Phoenix may have saved Benavidez’s boxing career
Phoenix native and WBC interim super middleweight champion David Benavidez’s big fight against former IBF champ Caleb Plant is just days from taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The boxers have been on a collision course for some time. For Benavidez (26-0), an undefeated record and potential dream matchup with Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, is on the line.
Plant’s only loss in his 22-1 career record was to Alvarez.
Promoter Al Haymon called Benavidez after Benavidez defeated David Lemieux in May of 2022 and asked if he’d like a fight before taking on Plant, or if he just wanted to go straight after Plant. Then came testy negotiations for terms.
“This is a fight I’ve been wanting, I mean, the fans will be thrilled to hear this too,” Benavidez recalls thinking. “So let’s take it, you know. It didn’t happen in the way I thought it would happen. But the good thing is that it’s still happening. We’ve extended the training camp a little bit more ... I’m in the best shape of my life. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I’m very satisfied with the work I put in and everything. I didn’t leave no stone unturned. You guys are going to definitely see a monster on March 25.”
The buildup for the fight hasn’t been without choice words and verbal jabs exchanged. There’s a disdain each fighter has for the other, and it seems genuine.
But March 25 will also be a celebration of sorts for Arizona boxing. Benavidez is in the main event, and Casa Grande natives Jesús and Abel Ramos have fights on the main card. Team Benavidez also has Seattle area native José Valenzuela in
competition that night with Valenzuela trained by Benavidez’s father José Sr.
“We just represent Phoenix so hard, and it’s not only because we’re from there, it’s because the way we fight. When you’re from Phoenix you fight a certain type of way,” David Benavidez said. “Basically you go out there and you take the other person’s spirit away from them, and you go for the knockout every time. And that’s what we represent. And I’m very happy to see those guys. Very happy to see Jesús and Abel on March 25. It’s going to be Phoenix, Arizona, all day.”
Benavidez is now based in the Pacific Northwest, having left Phoenix for a more settled life in the Seattle area more than a year ago. But the city is still in his heart. His family hopes to open a boxing gym in Phoenix in the future.
Benavidez chose to leave behind a life of socializing that led to a positive drug test and stripping of a title belt to re-commit himself to boxing and raise a family in a new place.
“Testing positive for the stuff that you shouldn’t have tested positive for, that comes out about because, you know, you’re well known in the city, you get invited to parties, everybody wants to hang out with you, everybody wants to do this. And especially if you’re trying to be a great athlete, that doesn’t go hand in hand with each other,” Benavidez, now 26, said. “I really couldn’t control myself back then. That’s been a long time since it happened. It’s been like about five years. But when I came up here to Seattle, I met my girlfriend and we had a child. And so this is my home base right now, but I’m definitely going back to Phoenix. It’s always going to be in my heart, you know, and then we’ve got a lot of friends out there with gyms and stuff. So we’re always going back and forth.”