Brother for brother. The older Benavidez lost to the “rusty” Charlo, the younger beat Andrade

Brother for brother. The older Benavidez lost to the “rusty” Charlo, the younger beat Andrade

Igor Nekrasov November 26, 2023, 10:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

David is the main contender for the fight with Canelo.

An evening of professional boxing took place in Las Vegas (USA). The Benavidez brothers performed in the two main fights of the tournament. In the main event of the tournament, the younger Benavidez, David, fought for the interim WBC super middleweight title against undefeated American Demetrius Andrade. And in the co-main event, David’s older brother José shared the ring with WBC world middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.

The co-main event drew attention primarily for the fact that Jermall returned to the ring. He fought his last fight in July 2021, after which he took a long break from his professional career due to psychological problems. Benavidez, by the way, during the preparation of the fight repeatedly emphasized this, hinting that Charlo is no longer the same as before. The champion, who has not yet been stripped of his belt, responded bluntly to his opponent’s criticism. They both talked about wanting to knock out their opponent and show real power in the ring.

Online transmission of the tournament:

Live

David Benavidez beat a strong opponent, Jermall Charlo took a risk and came back beautifully!

Jermall also said that he had been preparing for the fight for only three weeks and linked the failed weigh-in to this: Charlo did not meet the middleweight limit and the non-title fight took place in the catchweight category, which El boxer, by the way, also did not meet. However, Benavidez’s team did not reject the fight.

In the early rounds, José looked fresher and more powerful than his opponent, constantly trying to pressure the champion. Charlo was having a hard time getting involved in the fight, it seemed like he didn’t really want to box. But when Jermall turned on, the difference in levels was noticeable. Charlo turned out to be much more technical, often missing the pressing José and interrupting him from a distance. He was more precise and effective throughout the fight, winning round after round, but the crowd never saw any of the promised power. At the end of the fight, the boxers completely returned to trash talking and verbal altercations, forgetting about boxing. As a result, the fight went to the end and ended with a certain victory for Charlo: 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.

But Joseph’s younger brother, David, fought with much more confidence. The current WBC interim super middleweight champion accepted a fight with the promising Demetrius Andrade, but all Benavidez’s thoughts were on a fight with the absolute world champion at this weight, Saúl Álvarez.

“The fight we tried to organize was a meeting with Canelo. The fight he rightly deserved. I’m the number one contender for the WBC belt and he didn’t want to give me this fight. So we turned to the second best option, Demetrius Andrade. “He’s a fighter that a lot of people gave up on and he’s really good, but it’s time to destroy him,” Benavidez said before the fight.

On the potential fight between Álvarez and Benavidez:

Fat check or legacy? Canelo was offered a lot of money to reject Bivol

Interest in this fight was fueled by Benavidez and Andrade’s combined record: 59-0. And it seemed like the fight would be competitive and close, but in reality Benavidez turned out to be far superior to his opponent. If in the first rounds Demetrius showed good boxing and in some places even pinned the champion to the ropes, acting aggressively, then from the third round the initiative completely passed to Benavidez. David chased the challenger around the ring, hit him long and hard, and in the fourth round he knocked Andrade down. The challenger got up and continued the fight, but it was clear how difficult it was for Demetrius.

The challenger remained on his feet for two more rounds, but after the sixth round Andrade refused to continue the fight. Benavidez defended his interim WBC world title and took another step towards a fight with Alvarez. After such a performance, it will be difficult to ignore and write off David, Benavidez is one of the main contenders for a fight with Canelo in the super middleweight division.