Fight night is almost here. The world will see a clear and undeniable number one contender emerge to unified super middleweight champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this Saturday night at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas when David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) defends his interim WBC super middleweight title against Demetrius Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) in a SHOWTIME PPV event. But, before the war, there were some final words.
“I agreed to this fight with Andrade because he’s the hardest,” Benavidez recently told members of the media. “Other than myself, he’s the best in the division. He’s the hardest task besides Canelo, so I want to challenge myself. I really do want to be the best, and I’m telling you guys that I don’t want there to be a doubt in anyone’s head that I’m the best at the super middleweight division. That’s exactly what I’m going to do…To be honest with you, I’m not worried about Canelo. I’m not worried about anybody. My job is to clear out the division, and that’s exactly what I intend on doing. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be the best in the division. This is the start of the Benavídez era…I’m going for a knockout Saturday night.”
As for talk of strategy, the 26-year-old undefeated offensive beast, fighting out of Seattle, speaks like he fights– direct and with no beating around the bush.
“I’m going to try to strike as soon as I have an opportunity to strike,” Benavidez asserted. “I’m going to try to end it as early as I can because I want to show the people that I am the best fighter…the fans want to see knockouts and they want to see people go to war. We can go heart-for-heart but I’m going to end up victorious on Saturday.”
The 35-year-old Providence, Rhode Island native, Andrade, however, has his mind focused on doing what he does as one of the sport’s preeminent defensive stylists.
“I’m ready to rumble. I feel great,” Andrade told media. “We’re going to put on a great show. It’s me again, baby. It’s showtime…I’m going to frustrate him. You’ll see on Saturday night. When he’s not able to do what he wants to do, it’s going to play into my advantage.”
As for the weight of the pay-per-view event and whether it will affect him in any way, the 2008 US Olympian and former two-division world champ assures that this fight will just be another day at the office for him.
“Just like any other fight, man,” Andrade insisted. “We do what we do, I’m confident, been doing this for a long time, and we’re just ready to rumble at this point. I don’t need to do the whole back-and-forth stuff like that; I do it in my own way and I always do the talking with my hands as well. So 32-0 for a reason and come the 25th you guys are going to get to see the best Andrade…Skills pay the bills, man. Skills pay the bills, and not that he’s not skillful — he’s a tough, strong guy that’s going to come forward and put his own will — but I have the sauce. Like I said, that signature stuff, man. I can break him down, get him frustrated, do a lot of things, and hit him. So it’s all good.”
Fans will see for themselves this Saturday how this clash of contrasting styles and mindsets plays out. Will the defensive master, Andrade, frustrate the come-forward pressure fighter Benavidez en route to a career-validating victory? Or will the all-offense “Mexican Monster” Benavidez overwhelm and overtake the cool-minded stylist Andrade?
Whatever happens, though, the winner should get Canelo Alvarez next.
Leave a Reply