By: Sean Crose
This is a good one. David Benavidez, the power punching super middleweight terror, will be facing the slick and highly skilled Rhode Islander, Demetrius Andrade in Las Vegas on November 25th. Andrade has long been searching for this kind of high level fight while Benavidez deserves credit for taking on a very serious threat while hoping to land a high profile bout against Canelo Alvarez sooner rather than later. The truth is that Benavidez-Andrade is a classic boxer-puncher battle, and frankly it’s a bit hard to see whose going to pull out of this one on top.
Neither fighter has suffered a single loss. The 27-0 Vegas based Benavidez has ended all but four of his fights within the distance. His most recent victory was against another slick fighter, Caleb Plant, who he bested back in March by unanimous decision. Other notable names on the 26 year old’s resume include David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrell. As for Andrade, the 32-0 former WBO middleweight titlist is now 35, but clearly hasn’t absorbed a lot of wear and tear during the course of his career. Andrade’s last fight saw him cruise to victory over Desmund Nicholson last January.
As an interesting side note, there are those who feel Andrade has been one of the more avoided practitioners of the fight game. WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury himself has come out and claimed that Andrade has been avoided. No one will accuse Benavidez of ducking the man, however, no matter how their November battle ultimately plays out. Sadly, this very good matchup will (surprise, surprise) be broadcast on Showtime Pay Per View.