LAS VEGAS – From Demetrius Andrade’s vantagepoint, he and David Benavidez need each other.
Both boxers would’ve preferred to challenge Canelo Alvarez next for super middleweight supremacy, but the Mexican icon has shown little interest in fighting Andrade or Benavidez. They were therefore left to face each other Saturday night in one of the most intriguing fights that could’ve been made within the 168-pound division.
The winner certainly can make a stronger case for fighting Alvarez on May 4, the date on which boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion has indicated that he’ll return to the ring. Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs), a Phoenix native, and Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs), a southpaw from Providence, Rhode Island, will fight for Benavidez’s WBC interim 168-pound championship, which, according to the WBC, will make Benavidez or Andrade its mandatory challenger for one of Alvarez’s four titles.
Benavidez hasn’t fought a southpaw in seven years, yet he didn’t hesitate to accept a fight against Andrade, a former WBO middleweight and WBA/WBO 154-pound champion.
“I’m not surprised cuz it was sorta like his back’s against the ropes, my back’s against the ropes, and it’s like where are we gonna go?,” Andrade told BoxingScene.com. “Here’s a great opportunity for a great fight, one of the best fights at super middleweight, and I was for it. I let them know, ‘Yeah, let’s do it, because he has nowhere to go and I have nowhere to go.’ So, it only made sense to be like, ‘Yo, look, man, we gotta do it.’ ”
Taking a fight of this magnitude was particularly important for Andrade, who is 35 and still seeks what would be considered the signature win of his 15-year professional career.
Andrade asked Al Haymon about boxing other super middleweights aligned with Premier Boxing Champions after he defeated Demond Nicholson (26-6-1, 22 KOs) by unanimous decision in his PBC debut – a 10-round bout on the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia undercard January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The 2008 Olympian was repeatedly rebuffed, but Benavidez gladly accepted a challenging assignment that will headline a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View event at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT; $74.99).
“I was asking for these fighters, the top fighters over here with PBC and Showtime,” Andrade said. “And it was just, ‘Not looking for a tough fight. Not looking for a tough fight. Not looking for a tough fight.’ So, again, I got nowhere to go, he got nowhere to go. And just putting my age aside, I can’t keep continuing to fight and never have the needle moving. Yeah, it pays good or whatever, but it’s just like I need movement. I need [the needle] to move more towards full. For me, what am I supposed to do? Fight David when I’m 36, 37, 38, 39? I’m not doing that. There’s no way.
“I don’t know how my body’s gonna feel, and I’m not doing it for no other reason. I’m not one of them fighters that’s gonna be like, ‘I need the money.’ Nah, you’ll never get me there. I do this still because I love it. I wanna prove [myself] and this is the opportunity for that to happen. … So, for me, the time’s now. I’m not doing it next year. Father Time waits for no man. You know what I’m saying? I been doing this since I was 6 years old. So, it has to be now, with him, for sure.”
Andrade is the first undefeated foe for Benavidez since he defeated Francy Ntetu (then 16-0) by seventh-round technical knockout in June 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. BetMGM sportsbook has nonetheless established Benavidez as more than a 3-1 favorite to win their 12-round fight Saturday night.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.