Commentator Jim Lampley believes David Benavidez has a chance to become “the face of boxing.” The former HBO blow-by-blow announcer Lampley is high on Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs), believing he can someday move up to heavyweight to become a possible world champion.
For now, Benavidez is fighting Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs) for the WBC interim light heavyweight title this Saturday night, June 15th, on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
If Benavidez is successful, he could face the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev undisputed 175-lb championship in 2025. Benavidez’s chances of becoming the ‘Face of Boxing’ would be good if he could defeat Gvozdyk and then beat the Bivol-Beterbiev winner
Staying at 175 and then moving to cruiserweight will help Benavidez become the face of boxing because if he moves back down to 168, he won’t get the fights he needs to become the #1 star in the sport.
Canelo Alvarez won’t fight Benavidez, and there aren’t any big names in the 168-lb division for him to fight. If he stays at 175 long enough to become undisputed, that’ll help his popularity. Going to cruiserweight and then heavyweight will transform Benavidez into a huge star if he keeps winning.
Jim Lampley: “David, I just had a surprising moment. I said to Oleksandr Gvozdyk, ‘What happened between you and David when you sparred in Oxnard,’ and he said, ‘It didn’t go well for me at all,’” said Lampley to PPV_Com. “Normally, you don’t get that honest of an answer.
“He said, ‘The fact of the matter was, I couldn’t handle him. He was too strong, and he was too powerful. Those were not good sparring sessions for me, but this will go differently.’ Are you amazed that he would give me an honest answer like that?”
David Benavidez: “I’m amazed and I appreciate his honesty, but it’s not going to go any better for him. When I sparred him, I was 20 or 21 years old. So imagine everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve learned.
“Not only on the boxing side, but with the strength and conditioning; everything I need to do to get the best out of myself. It’s going to go even worse for him. Hats off to him. He’s a great guy. It’s going to be a great fight while it lasts, but I’m definitely going to go in there and take him out.”
Lampley: “I asked him, ‘How about your jab, it’s the best one in the sport?’ He said, ‘It didn’t work for me against him.’ So, again, it’s pretty amazing.”
Benavidez: “Neither his jab worked or his right hand. I took away his best weapons. Now that I know what he does, it’s going to go even worse for him. I’m not using that to try, and be arrogant and try to overlook him. I’m still working extremely hard, because I know those weapons are there, but it’s going to be a great victory for Team Benavidez.”
Lampley: “I just watched a lot of talk at the news conference, and there were a lot of references to quote, ‘The face of boxing.’ I think you have a chance to clearly become the face of boxing, and I’m thinking it will be a far more dignified mode than what I saw today.”
Benavidez: “Oh yeah, definitely. Sometimes, it does get to that boiling point where two men don’t like each other, but I want to show the fighters that we can be gentlemen in the sport. We can conduct ourselves with different behavior.
“Sometimes, you get two people that don’t like each other, and that’s what you get sometimes. It doesn’t have to happen like that all the time.”
Lampley: “Nothing happened in this news conference that would change your approach to the fight.”
Benavidez: “Me and my fight, I’m studying a lot of film and doing my homework on this guy. He’s a great guy and it’s going to be a great fight. I look forward to it.”
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