David Benavidez isn’t the sort of fighter that many are clamoring to swap fists with. The 26-year-old is freakishly big, athletic, and has a perpetual engine. Those characteristics have led to two separate title runs at 168 pounds. It also forces his contemporaries to go in another direction when his name is mentioned.
His pernicious punching power and propensity for soaking his gloves in the blood of his opponents, however, doesn’t scare Demetrius Andrade. In his own right, the former two-division champ believes he’s been wildly avoided. With little options remaining, Andrade has stepped right to the current WBC interim titlist asking for a fight.
According to both teams, they have immured themselves and are attempting to put together a deal that would see them face off before the year comes to a close. From Andrade’s point of view, he doesn’t understand why things are taking so long.
The former Olympian isn’t bellyaching over money, nor does he have an issue with a supposed date of November. So while it isn’t every day that Benavidez finds himself on the wrong end of a callout, Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) recently doubled down, asking and pleading with the 26-year-old to find his pen and sign his end of the agreement.
“I know you don’t get too many people saying let’s make this sh!t happen but let’s make this sh!t happen,” Andrade told BoxingScene.com. “Speed the process up.”
Lining up big-time fight after big-time fight is what Benavidez has always been hoping for. Just a few short months ago, he used a second-half rally to pick up a unanimous decision victory against former champion, Caleb Plant.
Taking on no names and innocuous fighters isn’t on Benavidez’s agenda anymore. Instead, he’s screamed from the mountaintops that he wants to face the best of the best.
For much of his career, Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) has been considered the monster of the super middleweight division. In other words, the one man others are hesitant to face. Andrade, nevertheless, is dying to get his hands on a fighter that has struggled to get notable fights just as much as he has.
“The boogeyman vs. the monster. Let’s make this sh!t happen!”