On the night of June 16 in Las Vegas, David Benavidez, who has been talked about more and more lately, made his debut in the light heavyweight category. The opponent of the Mexican-American was the former world champion of this division, Alexander Gvozdyk.
As a result, Benavidez celebrated the victory by unanimous decision, who became the interim world light heavyweight champion according to the WBC, and now he can definitely be openly talked about as one of the main threats in the category up to 79.4 kg . Because it is important? Because the four main belts of this division belong to Russian boxers: Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. They must first identify the absolute world champion in a head-to-head fight, and only then will one of them face Benavidez.
How Benavidez defeated Gvozdyk:
Gvozdik’s career… is that all? Benavidez beautifully defeated the stubborn Ukrainian
The head of the coaching council of the Russian boxing team, Eduard Kravtsov, even before David’s victory over Gvozdyk, highlighted the level of this fighter: “Benavides, if you look closely, in this weight category he can be equated with Bivol. and Beterbiev. In terms of achievements, he is inferior to them, of course, but from a boxing point of view he will be competitive. Benavidez is truly a threat to Bivol and Beterbiev. This is a serious opponent. Let’s say he is the most competitive with them.”
Benavidez’s light heavyweight debut showed that this boxer can be really dangerous for the Russians. Firstly, because he is willing to fight on equal terms with hard hitters like Beterbiev and players like Bivol. Gvozdyk tried different things in his fight with David, but was never successful. For most of the fight, Benavidez effectively cut angles, took Gvozdyk to the ropes, and did an excellent job working his opponent’s body. This despite the fact that Alexander showed quite good footwork and defense, that is, he tried to avoid dangerous situations as much as possible. During the fight, Benavidez managed to demonstrate that he was ready to compete in hand-to-hand combat exchanges. David has good speed, his blows are fast, varied and precise. This is a really good skill set and carries some threat, especially when compared to recent opponents like Bivol and Beterbiev.
David Benavidez
Photo: Steve Marcus/Getty Images
The disadvantage that manifested itself in the fight with Gvozdyk is that Benavidez began to sink noticeably towards the end. At first he started to work as number two, he began to invest less in blows, then he began to give away episode after episode and then rounds. A very bad sign for David, that he had no such problems at super middleweight. If this is not an isolated case for the light heavyweight version of Benavidez and he has to face Bivol, then Dmitry can simply breathe him out and thanks to this defeat him. I should also say that these guys once fought together, so it will be difficult to surprise anyone here. On the other hand, Benavidez feels comfortable working as number one and Bivol allows him to.
With Beterbiev it is more difficult. Benavidez was unable to knock out Gvozdyk, although, frankly, that was expected of him. And Arthur, apparently, can’t be stopped any other way: either you can finish him off somehow or he gets to you and breaks you. The scenario seems quite likely. Furthermore, the fight between Benavidez and Gvozdyk showed that working as number two is not David’s strong suit. Yes, Beterbiev is even older than Gvozdik, but at the same time he competently distributes his forces over the distance, takes breaks when necessary and, in general, discipline in work has helped him maintain his sporting longevity. David is far inferior to him in experience, but he will definitely show a decent level of competition.
Everyone was looking forward to the fight between Beterbiev and Bivol, but it had to be postponed:
The fight of the century will have to wait. Beterbiev was seriously injured
Another important nuance is that David still retains the interim WBC super middleweight title. There he could well wait out all the confrontations between Bivol and Beterbiev (they have a rematch clause) and even try to get the coveted fight with Saúl Álvarez. And only then, he returns with a new experience. For now, Benavidez intends to stay in two divisions, but this can be both a plus and a minus. On the one hand, he will get used to the size of other competitors, on the other, jumping from one category to another has never brought any benefit to any body.
And if David still concentrates on the light heavyweight division, then we will have several brilliant fights with his participation. Including those in the championship, where Benavidez will try to impose competition on Bivol and Beterbiev.
