David Benavides turned 28 today, December 17th, as he prepares to fight regular WBA Light Heavyweight Champion David Morrell on February 1st in Las Vegas. ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez won the interim WBC light heavyweight title in his last fight in a poor performance against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) had to fight for a 12-round unanimous decision win against Gvozdik. In the interview, Benavidez says he entered the fight with both hands injured and a recent cut. He feels those injuries have prevented him from being 100%. That’s what I was afraid of. Benavidez is starting to fall apart from a long, long career in the sport.
Benavidez’s injury problems
He’s 28, but he might as well be 38. Benavidez is as much a pro as undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, and he’s also plagued by multiple injuries. Being in the game for over 10 years does that to a fighter. It’s very difficult to continue fighting at the top level when a guy has been in the sport for so long.
The injuries that Benavidez is starting to suffer may be a sign that his body is breaking down from a long career. Although he is still young at 28, he has been in the sport for 11 years. Many fighters are physically shot by the age of 10 in the professional game. It has nothing to do with chronological age.
The physical breakdown is due to wear and tear, and Benavidez could be showing early signs. Hands go first, then reflexes and impact resistance. He hasn’t fought a single puncher in his career except for the 37-year-old Gvozdik, who lit him up in their bout at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Benavidez went through that fight without a knockout, but took a lot of punishment from Gvozdik.
David may be deluding himself because he has never been a puncher, even at 168 years old. His knockouts came from his extensive striking against older, shorter fighters, and he never showed a hint of power during his 11-year career.
Benavidez looked the same as ever, power-wise, the only difference being that his punches didn’t have the effect at 175 that they did against the smaller veterans he fought at 168. He was huge for the division and was is a pair against mostly older figures in recent years than his promoters. Coming in at 175, Benavidez’s power wasn’t the same and apparently had nothing to do with both arms being injured.
Signs of decline
“I had a lot of injuries in this fight. Seven weeks into the fight, I tore a ligament or tendon (right arm). “It was a pretty bad injury,” said David Benavides Tobintalking about why he struggled so badly in his debut at 175 against Alexander Gvozdyk on June 15 in Las Vegas.
“They said I needed seven weeks to recover from it. “Well, I don’t understand that.” I’m going to go ahead and use my left hand, and hopefully the fight (Gvozdik) will come to this (right) hand. So I’m throwing punches and it’s five weeks until the fight, and I hit the guy (sparring partner) on the top of the head.
“I actually broke it and I couldn’t even use that (left arm). It hurt a lot,” Benavidez said, noting that both of his hands were injured going into the fight against 37-year-old former WBC light heavyweight champion Gvozdik. “Well, I’m like, ‘I’m not going to cancel the fight anyway. So I’m just going to give him some time to recover.”
The fight with Gvozdik will be a life and death fight for Benavidez, regardless of his injuries, as this guy was a level above the guys he beat at 168. Who did Benavidez beat at 168 who can you call a good fighter? These three are the best Benavidez has fought during his career as a super middleweight: Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade and Anthony Dirrell. We’re not talking about A-level guys. They are B-level fighters, and two of them were very old.
“Two weeks later, I’m going to spar again, and in the 12th round I got a cut over my (left) eye,” Benavies continued about the injury problem. “I got 13 stitches. I was torn. I didn’t know what to do. I have this injury (left arm) and this injury (right arm), and I have a cut. Because the fans mean so much to me, and this is a big deal for the boxing people and the PBC people.
“I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to go in there and pray that my hands are healthy. My stamina is there. I’ll just keep fighting.’ I kid you not. I’m in the locker room, hitting the gloves. I feel my (left) arm swelling. I feel pain (right arm). I’m already a little nervous.”
Morrell Will Capitalize
As I said, Benavidez’s body is breaking down from a long career in the sport and he probably doesn’t have much time left. He is likely to pick up injuries during training camp for the Morel fight. If he does not postpone the fight, he will enter the contest against the Cuban Morel with injuries to one or both hands. That’s not the type of guy Benavidez can afford to deal with injuries because this talent will tear him apart.
“I went in there and did a great job. I won eight or nine rounds against a veteran (Gvozdik). He was an Olympic silver medalist and was the unified featherweight champion (correction: Gvozdik is the former WBC 175 lb champion, NOT the unified former champion),” said Benavidez.
Contrary to what Benafvidez says, he did NOT do a “great job” in his fight against Gvozdik. That match looked 100% like it should have been a 12 round draw. Although the judges did Benavidez a favor by giving him the win, he can’t count on getting a decision against Morel as he will take the judges out of the equation with his powerful jab.