Tag Archives: Anthony Dirrell

David Benavidez to Fight Caleb Plant in Las Vegas This March

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David Benavidez is heading back to the ring in March…

The 26-year-old Mexican and Ecuadorian American professional boxer, a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, will meet Caleb Plant in a long-awaited fight on March 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, according to ESPN.

David BenavidezThe 168-pound bout will be a PBC on Showtime PPV.

Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) and Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) both announced in November that they struck a deal for the grudge match. They’ve traded plenty of barbs in both directions, and it all leads to a fascinating clash of styles.

Benavidez is a volume-punching pressure fighter who’s been among boxing’s most avoided fighters.

Plant, 30, is a stick-and-move boxer whose only defeat came last November in an 11th-round TKO loss to Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion. But after Alvarez, Benavidez and Plant are widely considered the two best fighters who campaign at 168 pounds (Benavidez is ESPN’s No. 2 super middleweight; Plant is No. 3).

“You can’t hide from me anymore, I’ll see you soon,” Benavidez wrote on Instagram in November.

“I went and made it happen,” Plant wrote. “Contract signed. See you early next year.”

Benavidez was slated to meet Jose Uzcategui in January before the fight was scrapped. The Phoenix-born boxer twice held a super middleweight title but both times lost his belt outside the ring.

First, a positive test for cocaine in 2018 led to him being stripped. Benavidez regained the title with a ninth-round KO of Anthony Dirrell in 2019 but was forced to relinquish his belt the following year when he failed to make weight.

Most recently, Benavidez scored a third-round TKO of former middleweight titleholder David Lemieux in May.

Plant, who fights out of Las Vegas, won the IBF super middleweight title in 2019 with a unanimous decision victory over Uzcategui. He made three successful defenses before he lost the belt in the undisputed championship fight against Alvarez.

Plant rebounded last month with a spectacular ninth-round KO of Dirrell.

David Benavidez Agrees to Fight Caleb Plant in Early 2023

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David Benavidez is headed back to the ring for a highly anticipated bout…

The 25-year-old Mexican and Ecuadorian American boxer and Caleb Plant, both former super middleweight titleholders, have announced that they’ve struck a deal for a long-awaited fight.

David BenavidezThe 168-pound bout will be presented by Premier Boxing Champions on pay-per-view in the first quarter of 2023, according to ESPN.

Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) and Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) have circled each other for years with plenty of barbs in both directions. Besides a genuine grudge, Benavidez-Plant is a fascinating clash of styles.

Benavidez is a volume-punching pressure fighter who’s been among boxing’s most avoided fighters.

Plant, 30, is a stick-and-move boxer whose only defeat came last November in an 11th-round TKO loss to Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion.

But after Alvarez, Benavidez and Plant are widely considered the two best fighters who campaign at 168 pounds (Benavidez is ESPN’s No. 2 super middleweight; Plant is No. 3).

“You can’t hide from me anymore, I’ll see you soon,” Benavidez wrote on Instagram.

“I went and made it happen,” Plant wrote. “Contract signed. See you early next year.”

Benavidez was slated to meet Jose Uzcategui in January before the fight was scrapped. The Phoenix-born boxer twice held a super middleweight title but both times lost his belt outside the ring.

First, a positive test for cocaine in 2018 led to him being stripped. Benavidez regained the title with a ninth-round KO of Anthony Dirrell in 2019 but was forced to relinquish his belt the following year when he failed to make weight.

Most recently, Benavidez scored a third-round TKO of former middleweight titleholder David Lemieux in May.

Plant, who fights out of Las Vegas, won the IBF super middleweight title in 2019 with a unanimous decision victory over Uzcategui. He made three successful defenses before he lost the belt in the undisputed championship fight against Alvarez.

Plant rebounded last month with a spectacular ninth-round KO of Dirrell.

David Benavidez in Final Talks to Fight Jose Uzcategui in Super Middleweight Bout

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David Benavidez is nearing a deal to return to the ring…

The 25-year-old Mexican and Ecuadorian American professional boxer, a two-time WBC super middleweight champion is finalizing a deal with Jose Uzcategui for a super middleweight bout slated for January, according to ESPN.

David BenavidezThe pair were set to square off in November 2021 before Uzcategui tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug rEPO (recombinant erythropoietin), a synthetic version of EPO. Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) instead faced Kyrone Davis and scored a seventh-round stoppage.

 

Benavidez went on to defeat former middleweight titleholder David Lemieux via third-round TKO in May, but the marquee matchups continue to elude Benavidez, perhaps boxing’s most avoided fighter.

He has called for a fight with boxing’s top star, Canelo Alvarez, along with bouts against fellow PBC boxers Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo.

With a win over Uzcategui, Benavidez will remain in prime position for one of those matchups.

ESPN‘s No. 2 boxer at 168 pounds, Benavidez is feared for good reason. He’s over 6 feet tall, throws a seemingly endless amount of punches and does so with tremendous power.

He twice held a super middleweight title but both times lost his title outside the ring. First, a positive cocaine test led to him being stripped. Benavidez regained the title with a ninth-round KO of Anthony Dirrell in 2019 but was forced to relinquish his belt the following year when he failed to make weight.

Benavidez will look to continue his impressive string of stoppage victories against Uzcategui, a former super middleweight titleholder. A Venezuelan boxer who fights out of Mexico, Uzcategui (32-4, 26 KOs) has fought once since the revelation of the banned substance, a second-round KO of journeyman Felipe Romero in May.

The 31-year-old’s career-best victory remains an eighth-round TKO of former titleholder Andre Dirrell in 2018. Uzcategui went on to lose his title to Caleb Plant via decision in 2019. Two fights later, Uzcategui dropped a decision to Lionel Thompson in an upset.

Now, he’ll head into a fight with Benavidez as a major underdog against the backdrop of his failed drug test last year.

“EPO is possibly the most powerful PED that can be used by a boxer,” Victor Conte, the founder of Balco, told ESPN last year after news broke of Uzcategui’s adverse finding. Conte served time in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute performance-enhancing drugs before founding SNAC, a sports nutrition company.

“It increases oxygen uptake and utilization which drastically improves stamina and endurance,” he said. “Some have described the benefits to making an athlete like a machine.”

David Benavidez to Fight Anthony Dirrell in WBC-Mandated Bout

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It’s gloves on for David Benavidez in an effort to reclaim hisbelt…

The 22-year-old Mexican American boxer and former WBC titlist is set to fight super middleweight world titleholder Anthony Dirrell in a bout mandated by the World Boxing Council.

David Benavidez

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman announced the decision Monday at a news conference in Istanbul, as the organization clarified its position on its 168-pound belt.

Sampson Lewkowicz, who promotes Benavidez, told ESPN that the fight with Dirrell has been agreed to and would take place in August or September.

Sulaiman had been weighing a request from contender Avni Yildirim for an immediate rematch with Dirrell. Benavidez had been due to make a mandatory defense against Dirrell last fall but was stripped of the title when he tested positive for cocaine. He served a suspension and returned to impressively knock out J’Leon Lovein the second round March 16 on the Errol Spence Jr.-Mikey Garciaundercard.

But with the title vacant — the WBC had declared Benavidez its “champion in recess” — Dirrell faced Yildirim for the vacant belt February 23 in Minneapolis, where Dirrell won a 10th-round technical decision in a close, action-packed bout. The fight had been stopped and sent to the scorecards because Dirrell suffered a bad cut over his left eye in the seventh round. By the 10th round, it had gotten worse and Dirrell was ruled unable to continue.

Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs), 27, of Turkey, and his promoter, Ahmet Oener, flew to Mexico City to meet with Sulaiman late last month to make their case for an immediate rematch. The WBC decided against it, but in ordering Dirrell-Benavidez, Sulaiman said Yildirim could return to fight on the Dirrell-Benavidez undercard and that he would get a mandatory shot against the winner of the fight (as long as Yildirim won the interim bout).

“I am very proud of these three fighters,” Sulaiman said. “Dirrell is a two-time WBC champion who has overcome adversity and defeated cancer; Benavidez is a young man who has come back from the evils of recreational drugs and has found a path for a new life; and Yildirim is a national hero hoping to become the first world champion from Turkey, who has dedicated his life with sacrifice and passion to make his dream come true.

“This is what boxing is all about — the best fighting the best and I applaud the three sides for working together in this process.”

Dirrell (33-1-1, 24 KOs), 34, of Flint, Michigan, said he was pleased by Sulaiman’s decision and hopes to face Benavidez when he is able to return to the ring once his cut fully heals.

“I think it’s a big fight for boxing and for the super middleweight division,” Dirrell told ESPN on Monday. “It’s two of the top guys going against each other.”

After Benavidez (21-0, 18 KOs), 22, of Phoenix, knocked out Love he made it clear he wanted to next fight Dirrell, who was ringside, in order to reclaim the belt he had been stripped of.

“I saw Anthony Dirrell with the WBC belt. He can’t call himself champion until he fights me,” Benavidez said in the ring at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, two weeks ago. “That’s my belt. I’m going to go get it. It’s mine.”

Dirrell said Benavidez had simply done to Love what was expected and that he looked forward to fighting him later this year.

“He did what he was supposed to do. All due respect to him, I think he was supposed to get him out of there,” Dirrell said. “They consider [Benavidez] one of the best so why not fight the best?”

Benavidez to Fight Rogelio Medina in Quest for WBC Super Middleweight World Title

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David Benavidez is on the hunt for history…

The 20-year-old Latino boxer is one step closer to achieving his goal of becoming the youngest fighter to win a super middleweight world title.

David Benavidez

The WBC has agreed to sanction a title eliminator between Benavidez (17-0, 16 KOs) and former title challenger Rogelio “Porky” Medina (37-7, 31 KOs), according to promoter Sampson Lewkowicz.

“This is the final test for David Benavidez,” Lewkowicz said. “If he does to this guy what he did to so many other fighters, it will be time for the world to acknowledge that David is going to be a star in boxing. This test will show everyone that he is truly everything we’ve been saying he is since he was a teenager. I am proud of the hard work he is doing and look forward to this great victory.”

The date and location of the fight are still to be determined, Lewkowicz said.

England’s Callum Smith (22-0, 17 KOs) and Anthony Dirrell (30-1-1, 24 KOs), the former titleholder, are due to meet this spring for the belt recently vacated by Badou Jack, who is moving up in weight. The winner of that bout must make his first defense against Turkey’s Avni Yildirim (15-0, 10 KOs).

The fighter who emerges with the title following those two bouts will be mandated to face the Benavidez-Medina winner.

“This is the biggest opportunity of my life, and I’m not going to let it go to waste,” said Benavidez, who served as one of unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin‘s chief sparring partners as he prepared for his March 18 fight with Daniel Jacobs. “I’m going to destroy this guy like I do everybody else. I have never trained this hard for a fight, and I feel that, come fight time, I’ll be extremely strong and do it up.”

The super middleweight division was created in 1984 and the youngest fighter to win a world title at 168 pounds is Darin Van Horn, who was 22 years, 8 months and 11 days old when he knocked out Lindell Holmes in the 11th round to win the IBF version of the belt May 18, 1991.

If Benavidez defeats Medina, he would get the opportunity to challenge for a world title well before he turns 22. Benavidez does not turn 21 until Dec. 17.