David Benavidez says he’s down to 188 lbs, feeling strong, preparing for his fight against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th on Prime Video PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Looking Beyond Gvozdyk: The Canelo Dream
At 188, Benavidez looks solid, and it shows how much he’s been killing his body to drain down to 168 all these years. He should have been at light heavyweight a long time ago, but he’s been staying around, hoping to get a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) feels confident that he’s going to knock out Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs) to win the WBC interim 175-lb title for their 12-round co-feature contest on the Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin card.
This is Benavidez’s debut at light heavyweight, and he needs the win to position himself to fight for the undisputed championship in 2025.
Interestingly, Benavidez still intends to return to the 168-lb division because he still hopes to fight Canelo. That won’t happen without someone wealthy bankrolling the fight to come up with the $200M that Canelo wants.
The Challenge of Facing Opponents His Own Size
If Benavidez loses to Gvozdyk, he might not have any options but to return to super middleweight because it would be pointless to stay at 175 if he can’t cut it against fighters his own size in that weight class. That’s the thing.
Benavidez has been fighting smaller opposition his entire career at 168, and now he’s suddenly going to be fighting guys hiw own size at 175. He might not be able to handle not being the bigger guy.
“On fight week, you only lose a couple of pounds. I’m going to be extremely ready, extremely motivated, and well conditioned,” said David Benavidez to ESNEWS about his fight on June 15th against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
“I think so,” said Benavidez when asked if Porky Medina is his best knockout of his career. “We’re going to try and get a better knockout for this fight. I’m 100% ready. I did my 30-day weigh-in last week. 188. 13 pounds, so I’m very close, very happy.
“I’m hitting harder [at 175]. I feel like people haven’t seen the best of me. At 175, I’ll be able to showcase the best David Benavidez. I still have a lot to prove to myself. I’m not done,” said Benavidez.
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