Benavidez Displays Rapid-Fire Combos But Questions Remain About Power

David Benavidez showed off his rapid-fire combo form in an Instagram post today, staying sharp for his December 14th fight at 175.

Powerless at 175

His speed looks good in the video, but he will have to do something about the power if he’s going to be a threat to the winner of the October 12th fight between unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA champ Dmitry Bivol.

There’s no word yet on who Benavidez will fight next in December, but Jesse Hart has been mentioned on social media as his potential opponent.

If that’s who it will be, fans won’t be too happy because they were hoping for a top-five-ranked contender. That would be risky, but at least it would give Benavidez a chance to show that he deserves a title shot against the Beterbiev-Bivol because he clearly doesn’t rate it after fighting just once at 175.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is the WBC mandatory for Beterbiev and will be guaranteed a shot at the winner of his fight with Bivol. He may have to wait for them to do a rematch before he gets his shot, hence the need for a fight on December 14th against a still-to-be-determined opponent.

The ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez captured the vacant WBC interim light heavyweight title in a 12-round unanimous decision win over former 37-year-old  WBC 175-lb champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th in Las Vegas. Benavidez didn’t look effective in his debut at 175, but he would later blame the performance on injuries. He was not at all impressive in that fight, showing that he will need to win by volume punching in this weight class.

Benavidez took a lot of punishment in that fight, which was easily the toughest of his career despite the judges’ wide scores. It was a close fight due to Benavidez’s lack of power, how he gassed after six rounds, and the big shots he took from Gvozdyk.

In today’s mitt workout, which Benavidez posted on Instagram, he looked no more powerful than he had against Gvozyk. This suggests that injuries weren’t why he didn’t look strong that night. His power didn’t carry up from 168 to 175, so he will have problems against the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol fight.