New York – David Benavidez was ready and a few weeks away from his August 28 super middleweight title eliminator as was Venazuelan Jose Uzcategui at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
But this homecoming fight for the 24-year -old Benavidez, a Mexican-American and native of Phoenix, was put to a halt because he tested positive for COVID-19. So a highlight fight on the boxing calendar and the main event of a Showtime Boxing telecast was moved to Saturday November 13.
The winner should oppose Canelo Alvarez for the 168- pound titles at some point. Alvarez, by most, is noted as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He seeks to unify the WBC/WBO//WBA. IBF titles the prior Saturday in Las Vegas against Caleb Plant on Showtime Pay-Per View.
“I’m doing 13 or 14 rounds of sparring and running six or seven miles a day right now and I’m feeling strong,” Benavidez said Monday during a Zoom conference call with the media. “I basically had two back-to-back camps with the delay, so it was a little bit of a blessing in disguise.”
“We’ve had a lot of great sparring sessions out here in Southern California with Gabe Rosado and Diego Pacheco.so I’m not even worried about my stamina at all.”
Benavidez fought the battle with COVID, there was minimal loss of strength that required three weeks of being in quarantine away from family, friends, and those in his fight camp.
Though, Benavidez was not vaccinated and there is always a question as to why a fighter in training for a significant fight was not mandated to do so. Regardless, Benavidez said, he will get the COVID vaccine soon and doctors recommended the normal procedure is 90 days after contacting the virus.
We have seen that determination and motivation. There has never been a doubt when it comes to the ability of David Benavidez. He can fight, uses power punches as an advantage. In a few weeks, Benavidez will have that added advantage of fighting at home for the first time in a long time.
And there is extra motivation fighting on the same card with his older brother Jose, a longtime contender making a long awaited return in the co-main event facing Argentina’s Francisco Emanuel Torres in a 10-round super welterweight bout.
“There’s no anxiety about fighting at home,” Benavidez said. “I’m just excited about it. I’ve worked very hard for this. It’s going to be a great night of boxing, and I can’t wait to share the card with my brother in the co-main event. It’s really a dream come true.”
Uzcategui (31-4-0) can’t be bypassed as an easy way to get a fight with Alvarez. He has been in the ring with Plant and also wants that opportunity with Alvarez that could come with a significant win. He lost a tough 12-round unanimous decision to Plant in 2019.
He said through a translator ” what happened with Caleb Plant was just a bad night. We prepared in the wrong way and we weren’t ready like we should have been, But on November 13, the people are going to realize that the Plant fight was just one bad night and we will work extremely hard to become victorious.”
“I’m not going to tell you that I’m going to get the knockout or that I’m going to stop him or anything like that,because David is a young, strong, talented fighter who is capable of anything, just like I am. I’m going to provide my own speed, my own talent and my own experience. So in the end, the winners on November 13 are going to be the fans.”
In other words, Benavidez will throw his usual array of punches to the body as 85.5 percent have ended with 21 KO’s that go with a 24-0 undefeated record.
Benavidez said a few months prior to the scheduled fight this would be a war and there is every indication that will still hold when they meet in the ring. Of course there is the anticipation of becoming the next opponent for Canelo Alvarez,
“We both throw good power shots and we’re very similar fighters,” Benavidez said. “ When two bulls go toe-to-toe you’re going to get a war. This is going to be one of the best fights of the year. It’s a guaranteed war.”
“I truly believe that the winner of this fight between me and David deserves to fight the winner of Canelo-Plant,” Uzcategui said. “No doubt about that. As far as that fight goes, I think Canelo is going to win, and he may even knock Plant out in eight or nine rounds.”
“I think Canelo has the experience and power that’s going to help him get the victory on November 6 over Plant,” Benavidez said.
Yes, looking ahead is what these two fighters have on their agenda. But the mission is to get that important win for a fight that is anticipated. Canelo Alvarez has his agenda to unify the titles in a few weeks.
“It’s a great fight,” Benavidez said. “It’s huge for both of us to get this win and get to the next step toward a title.”
Rich Mancuso: Twitter@Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
