Lionell Thompson, super middleweight, predicts newly crowned WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez will be crushed when he faces Artur Beterbiev for all the belts at 175.
Thompson feels that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has no chance against IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs).
The way Benavidez looked in his debut last weekend against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, most fans see him as not having the pop in his punches or the conditioning to defeat Beterbiev or WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol.
Benavidez thought he could dominate the light heavyweight division like he’d done at super middleweight because he’s done well in that weight class.
He’s always been huge for a super middleweight, but surprisingly, Benavidez showed no power in his debut at 175 against Gvozdyk and was lucky that he wasn’t met with power shots from the former WBC champion.
“No, I still think Beterbiev Crushes him, but Bivol is going to be a tough fight for him too,” said Lionell Thompson to Pro Boxing Fans about whether David Benavidez is ready to fight for a world title at 175 against Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol.
With the money the Saudis will pay Benavidez to fight for the undisputed at 175 against the winner of the October 17th fight between Bivol and Beterbiev, I don’t think it matters too much if he loses to one of those guys.
Benavidez will have an excuse to tell fans for losing, and he take the millions he makes from the fight and return to the 168-lb division to continue to fight the same opposition that he’d been.
“I don’t think he [Benavidez] has a chance with Beterbiev. He should stay at 175. That’s his weight. Why would anybody want to see him beat up on a 154-pounder,” said Thompson when asked if David Benavidez should stay at 175 or move back down to 168.
“Canelo is doing the right thing. He’s [Benavidez] too big. There’s no shame in that. That’s why we have weight classes for a reason. He’s a cruiserweight that strings down to 168, but he’s not the guy they’ve been trying to make him to be.
“He’s been maneuvered the right way to keep his undefeated record, but now he’s at the crossroads where he’s got to fight somebody now. This is what happened. They made him [Benavidez] a [interim WBC light heavyweight] world champion, and Beterbiev is a real world champion, and now he’s got to lose.”