5 things we’ll learn from David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade

Plus, sleepy Shakur, Navarrete draw & strong PBC undercard

David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) and Demetrius Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) put their records and reputations on the line this coming Saturday, November 25, in Las Vegas on a monster PBC “farewell” card for 2023. Let’s look at five potential talking points ahead of a fight packed with intriguing storylines.

1. Who is the next best 168-pounder, below boss man Canelo Alvarez

Undoubtedly, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is the top dog at the weight. A host of contenders and pretenders sit below him. Led by David Benavidez, the heir apparent. Victory over Andrade will cement David as the next in line, and it would appear that Canelo will have no choice but to fight or duck him. Boxing is never so simple.

Victory for Andrade will leave the division in more of a stew as the likes of David Morrell and Caleb Plant will feel that they are higher up the pecking order and deserving of their own lofty positions.

Benavidez’s title history is sketchy because he has never lost his belts in the ring. Rather, personal indiscipline or misdemeanours have seen him stripped. Andrade’s own resume lacks big names. The Rhode Island southpaw moved up to super-middleweight to chase the big boys, earn big wins and secure even bigger paydays. 

Canelo is the undisputed top dog, but some exciting and talented boxers are nipping away at his heels. Whether he agrees to step in and fight the winner -effectively his mandatory- remains to be seen.

2. Can Demetrius Andrade last the pace under growing pressure

While Andrade’s style is not celebrated in most boxing quarters, he’s a clever operator. Awkward too. Using patience and a coiled, contorted frame to lure opponents in, Benavidez will need to be wary of traps that could walk him onto Andrade’s staple step-off and throw the left-hand move. 

Andrade has hurt and knocked down opponents in the past. He’s also been knocked down himself. In Boston in 2018, he defeated late-replacement title challenger Walter Kaukondokwa on points. After such a strong, one-sided start, Andrade let him off the hook. Billy Joe Saunders’ substitute should never have heard the final bell that evening.

While ‘Boo Boo’ starts strongly, Benavidez showed against Caleb Plant, along with other boxers, that his engine takes a little to get going. Andrade’s sprightly posture will fade after the first six rounds, and he will find himself increasingly on the ropes, a place he will not want to hang around for too long. 

If Andrade can bank early rounds then the onus will be on David to pressure him late - a role he always relishes. As Plant gently melted, Andrade’s later fight (rounds 8-12) activity may determine whether he is successful. Many are predicting a late stoppage, possibly coming from behind, for Benavidez.

3. How much longer does David Benavidez have left at super-middleweight

A big unit for 168, Benavidez turned pro very young and has recently been showing the stresses and strains of getting down to the limit. That can always catch up on a fighter. Sometimes, in the middle of a fight, they call upon reserves that aren’t there anymore. 

There’s nothing to suggest that will happen against Andrade. However, Benavidez looked rather skeletal when weighing in for the Plant fight, and a move up to 175 is inevitable at some stage, hopefully after he’s first mixed with Alvarez.

4. Caleb Plant showed that Benavidez’s relentless style may have a shelf life

Speaking of things suddenly not working anymore, Benavidez has proven himself to be a machine when he gets into a rhythm. Punching in bunches, letting go of volume combinations that start as range finders and end in explosive fashion, David showed a certain tactical adaptability against Plant. In the Ronald Gavril fight, he also showed that learning and changing things up is not beyond his skill set.

Benavidez was able to bring a left hook to the body in to play that slowed down ‘Sweethands’ Plant. A similar approach against Andrade’s 35-year-old frame will likely pay dividends late on. Once a fine athletic specimen, Andrade’s feet aren’t quite as mobile as in the embryonic stages of his career. 

Therefore, working him into corners and cutting off the ring may be easier. As mentioned, if Andrade ends up on the ropes, the relentless Benavidez engine will go into overdrive. 

5. Can Benavidez or Andrade offer a serious threat to the very best?

I touched upon this in the opening section, so won’t dwell too long. Canelo is the ultimate aim for both main eventers. Andrade has chased him down at press conferences, being dismissed by Canelo as a chancer who wants to bag a big payday. Benavidez has been more subtle in his pursuit. Victory here will make it a must-see fight. 

Who would televise a Canelo fight? With Showtime edging out of boxing, that’s currently up in the air. The PBC apparently have a secret new deal with Amazon, Netflix, or another entity yet to be revealed, so Canelo will always find a home somewhere to close out his deal with Al Haymon. 

Future fights with the likes of Dmitry Bivol or even the ageing Artur Beterbiev could be on the cards for Benavidez in particular, should he emerge victorious. As for Andrade, who started off around super-welterweight despite being six feet tall, campaigning in a higher division would not end well.

A cracking undercard sees the beastly Subriel Matias (see below) go in against dangerous unknown Shohjahon Ergashev. This fight is destined to be a war, and if Ergashev can keep on pitching, unlike Jeremias Ponce, who wilted, then we could be in for long-lasting fireworks. 

Returning from his early-year defeat to Gervonta Davis, Hector Luis Garcia should have too much savvy for Lamont Roach Jr over 12. Jose Benavidez Jr gets a family slot on the undercard as he takes on the missing Charlo brother, Jermall, over 10. 

Sergey Lipinets faces Michel Rivera in a battle of fringe contenders. David Benavidez’s sparring partner Daniel Blancas and Floyd Mayweather protege Curmel Moton look to extend their respective unbeaten records.

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Snakecharmer Shakur lulls De Los Santos and the fans to sleep

Shakur Stevenson made Guillermo Rigondeaux look like Johnny Tapia as he won the vacant WBC lightweight crown in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas on Thursday evening. It was a functional unanimous decision victory to say the least, as co-challenger Edwin De Los Santos failed to push the new champion to any limits.

Shakur dished out a one-sided boxing lesson on an opponent who could not cut off the ring effectively. As you often hear, “skills pay the bills”, but this was mind-numbingly dull for many of the rounds. Given Edwin’s lack of offensive prowess, the scores were incredibly close as Stevenson won by 115-113 and 116-112 (twice).

Conservative Stevenson was happy to spend the full 12 rounds of this all-southpaw affair dominating behind his lead right hand. It was pretty effective, if not pretty on the eye. De Los Santos lacked the ring IQ to shut down the angles and make Stevenson for his negative approach.

A dearth of action across the first third of the contest led to some boos from the sparse fight crowd. De Los Santos came out in the third round without a mouthpiece, which was one of the fight highlights as Edwin stayed patient and refused to get desperate.

A defensive master, Shakur was always ready to take a step back as soon as De Los Santos committed with the jab. It made for a tedious spectacle.

Stevenson’s lead hand was rapid and accurate. Neither man took risks or threw hands, which is meat and drink to a patient fighter like Stevenson, who is happy to soak up the crowd’s displeasure and escape unscathed. The Newark native did step forward a little more in the 11th.

Afterwards, he took to social media to claim a hand injury and spoke of the onus being on De Los Santos to engage and find a way to win. The Dominican did not possess those tools, and Stevenson showed little inclination to put his foot on the gas and seal the deal.

Stevenson is undoubtedly a supremely talented fighter, but becoming a three-weight world champion is mere paperwork, given the standard of opposition he has beaten. The real tests will come against Devin Haney (who fights Regis Prograis on December 9) or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, if rival promoters can come together and make the fights happen.

Some question whether Davis would be able to land his game-changing power shots against a fighter as difficult to hit as Shakur. Davis is more than just a finisher. He has ring intelligence, can box his way in to range and land the big shots. It is inevitable he will land on Stevenson at some point. What happens after that is where the real intrigue lies.

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Majority rules as Navarrete edges out Robson

In the Stevenson-De Los Santos co-main event, Emanuel Navarrete just about successfully defended his WBO super-featherweight title against game foe Robson Conceicao. The decision was a majority draw as judge Don Trella awarded Navarrete 114-112 while Max DeLuca and Chris Flores both totalled 113-113.

“If it’s up to me, I’d definitely give Robson the rematch,” said Navarrete.

“I know what I did tonight, and I deserved the victory,” countered Conceicao. “He’s a wonderful fighter. If we get the rematch, we can both show the fans what we’re capable of.”

Following a strong first round for Conceicao, the ESPN commentary crew were wondering when Navarrete’s questionable eating choices would catch up on him. The WBO challenger was catching up with him early on, landing sharp shots as Navarrete’s unorthodox style caused him problems in return.

The champion’s unconventional style allowed him to turn the tide instantly in round four as a left hook-come-uppercut caught Conceicao napping and dropped the Brazilian. He was also hurt at the end of the round and spent round five punching to keep Navarrete off him.

Conceicao was dropped again in round seven from a rib-crunching right hand body shot. Smiling as he rose, Robson’s big chance was slipping away from him as he slipped on the wet canvas.

Conceicao showed classy moves and slippery defensive work but struggled throughout to hold the power shots. Body shots at the conclusion of round 10 had him sagging once again before the bell came to his rescue.

Fighting with a badly damaged face, Conceicao showed incredible heart to make it to the final bell. This was likely the former Olympic gold medallist’s last shot at world title glory, and he left more than necessary behind him in the Las Vegas ring. Whether he can summon the type of energy and enthusiasm again remains to be seen.

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Nuthouse Notes

Brian Norman Jr won a 10-round decision over Quinton Randall on the Stevenson undercard. It was only marginally more competitive than the main event. Norman’s father, Brian Sr, was more aggressive in the corner, imploring his son to figure out what he needed to do in order to catch hold of tricky Randall. Norman Jr is a work in progress.

Troy Isley scored the best win of his career, avoiding a potential banana skin to defeat Vladimir Hernandez over eight rounds. Abdullah Mason blasted out Jose Cardenas in round two. Floyd Diaz dropped Max Ornelas twice and won an eight-round split decision.

At the weekend over in Manchester, there was an upset in the main event as a listless version of Denzel Bentley lost his British middleweight title to well-supported Stoke challenger Nathan Heaney. Nick Ball increased his stock at featherweight with a 12-round points win over former world champion Isaac Dogboe.

Meanwhile, in Wolverhampton, there was joy for Tyler Denny, who took the next step of his Cinderella journey by defeating 44-year-old Italian Matteo Signani for the European title. Adam Azim also won the super-lightweight version of the EBU crown by dominating and dispatching negative Frenchman Franck Petitjean.

Later in the evening, super-middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco overcame some shaky moments and a couple of cuts to stop Marcelo Coceres in a Los Angeles homecoming.

Full photo credits: San Diego Tribune, Box Live, Boxing Scene, Boxing Junkie, PBC.

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About Steve: Experienced boxing writer, author of 8 books and podcaster of over 500 eps. 20 years in the sport. Covered hundreds of shows for newspapers and Boxing News magazine. Chief video script writer for Motivedia channel and BN+. For enquiries: stevenwellings1982@gmail.com.