Jose Benavidez Jr. is gearing up for his scheduled non-title clash with WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, which takes place on November 25 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
The fight will be featured as part of a Showtime Pay-Per-View event, with Jose’s younger brother, super middleweight David Benavidez, headlining the card against Demetrius Andrade.
Charlo is coming from back from a layoff of over two years. His last fight took place in June of 2021, with a tougher than expected decision win over Juan Macias Montiel.
Benavidez, fighting for the second time at middleweight or above, believes the extra weight will benefit his performance. He felt the weight was a real factor in his decision losses to Terence Crawford (at 147) and Danny Garcia (at 154).
“I love being at this weight class. I’ve been eating healthy and feeling strong. I feel like this is the weight I belong at. I’ve got my man strength and I’ve been sparring my brother and his sparring partners. I’ve been pushing them back, so that must say something. I’m really motivated and excited. Words can’t even do justice for how great I feel,” Benavidez said.
“There are a lot of doubters. There’s always gonna be doubters. Come November 25, I shut them all up and prove to the world that I belong here.”
Over the last few weeks, things have gotten very personal between Benavidez and Charlo. Benavidez took shots at Charlo’s explanation that he stepped away from boxing in order to deal with his mental health issues.
“I said what I had to say to Charlo. I’m gonna always speak my mind. If he can’t take the heat, choose another sport,” Benavidez said.