David Benavidez’s potential opponent for the first defense of his WBC interim light heavyweight title is Jesse Hart for December 14th.
The Boxingvoice is reporting that Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is expected to face #5 WBO and #12 WBC Jesse Hart (31-3, 25 KOs) in a tune-up level fight to prepare him to fight the winner of the October 12th undisputed 175-lb championship between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Benavidez-Hart could be part of a doubleheader with lightweight champion Gervonta Davis headlining.
Hart, A Non-Risky Opponent
The 35-year-old Hart makes sense for Benavidez to defend his WBA interim 175-lb title against because he won’t be a threat of beating him and messing up the big-money payday that awaits him against the Beterbiev-Bivol winner.
This should be an easy chip shot for ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez to win, provided he doesn’t run out of fuel after six rounds again, like in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th. If Benavidez fights as he did against Gvozdyk, he might lose to Hart if the match is scored correctly.
Benavidez looked weak, sluggish, and pedestrian-level against Gvozdyk. Surprisingly, Benavidez appeared to lose the last six rounds but was bailed out by the Nevada judges, who gave him a wide 12-round unanimous decision that looked out of place for the fight inside the ring that night.
Benavidez was a destroyer at 168, using his size to demolish older, smaller fighters. But at 175, he looked nothing like the guy he’d been in the past, struggling against the 37-year-old Gvozdyk, getting out-punched and outboxed much of the time.
At 168, Benavidez feasted on lesser fighters like Demetrius Andrade, Caleb Plant, David Lemieux, Roamer Alexis Angulo, and Anthony Dirrell. Moving up 175 showed that Benavidez would not have it his way and must be protected before getting the mega-million payday against the Beterbiev vs. Bivol winner.
The performance showed that things will be much different for Benavidez at 175, and he will have to figure out how to thrive in this weight class.
Benavidez Cannot Afford to Lose
One thing Benavidez has going for him is youth, as he can potentially take over the light heavyweight division after Beterbiev and Bivol retire. But while they’re still around, Benavidez will be just an interim champion. However, there are contenders at 175 that would likely beat Benavidez, provided the judging is fair. He may not do well even after the champions, Bivol and Beterbiev, retire or move up to cruiserweight.
Even against Hart, Benavidez cannot fight like that again because he could lose, and that would ruin his dreams of the big payday he’ll get fighting the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight.
Hart has won his last four fights against lower-level, non-contenders following a 10-round split decision defeat by Joe Smith Jr. on January 11, 2020.
In Hart’s recent fights, he’s beaten these little known fighters:
– Daniel Aduku
– Jeyson Minda
– David Murray
– Mike Guy
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