Benavidez is nothing special in terms of skills

I never said destroying Yarde proved he was better than Beterbiev, I said it sort of undermines your statement that there is a big gap between Benavidez and the top p4p fighters. You just make the statement without any argument. David has dominated basically everyone he was fought including 5 top level opponents in a row now, which is exactly what a top p4p fighter should do, so your assessment is just weird.

Both Garcias moved up from lightweight to fight Spence, while David moved up to fight Gvozdyk in his own weight class. See the difference? A top p4p fighter should have disposed of those guys easily. Spence looked slightly above average to my eye test and also his in ring performances, that is why I don't rate him on David's level.

 

A big gap isn't what I was suggesting, just that there is a gap. I did say I thought he'd give Bivol a good fight. Yes I am comparing him to Spence and he got crushed by Bud but I don't think Bivol is as good as bud and stylistically it's not a clear edge in this matchup like it was for Crawford.

Benavidez is good, just not as good as you think he is, or at least that's my view now and nothing you are saying really proves any differently in my opinion. I simply don't agree with your reasoning behind why you rate Benavidez so highly. Now maybe DB proves me wrong but until he does nothing he has done so far makes me think he's a top 5 P4P fighter. I honestly don't even have in my top 10 P4P right now.

Well that's what I see when I see Benavidez performances. He's beating guys but he isn't standing out as elite, top P4P material just like Spence never did to me. He's not done anything that really makes me think he at that level.

Dirrell, Lemieux, Plant, Andrade, Gvozdyk and Yarde, none of these guys are really top fighters when he fought them, a very good fighter like he is should beat them as he has done, this resume and his performances don't for me make him obvious top level P4P material.

 

Fair take — Benavidez’s volume and pressure stand out, but technically he’s not as refined as some make him out to be. His defense can get leaky, and once opponents time that rhythm, he becomes predictable. Still, his toughness and stamina make up for a lot — you have to outbox him perfectly for twelve rounds to beat him.

 

If Benavidez had beaten the Gvodzyk that was up on 2 of the 3 judges' cards when Beterbiev clubbed him out in Rd 10, I would have been infinitely more impressed.

I think that Gvodzyk beats Benavidez.

 

Yeah weirdly I can see Benavidez causing Bivol hell but at the same time struggle a lot against Zurdo. Styles.

 

Benavidez defense is highly underrated

he uses the high guard quite well

 

You didn't suggest it, you literally said 'the gap is a big one'. Now you are arguing with yourself.

You have recently admitted to underestimating Benavidez and that he has proven to be better than you thought he was, yet you are still trying to lecture that he is not as good as I think he is and you know better. Maybe you should consider you are still underestimating him, and comparing him to basic Spence proves you don't know what you are talking about. Unlike Spence, David is not going the distance with opponents who moved up 2 divisions, or going life and death with Porter level fighters. He is actually beating up everyone infront of him.

You just dismissed his last 6 opponents of which 5 were former world champions and Yarde was a top contender but I bet you don't use the same standard for any other fights when we could use the same arguments for them. Bam has made his career beating up old men yet everyone hypes him up but everyone David fights is not that good. What elite opponents has Inoue beaten again? How many prime top fighters has he beaten? Crickets.

 

I think Benavidez is deceptively skilled. His defense has improved drastically over the last couple of years, and now he sets up his punches more than before. He used to rely more on explosive movements and tried to counter almost everything that was thrown at him, now he is slipping and parrying punches a lot more.
He also seems to use feints and level changes more now.

Hes fought a lot of different guys over the years, and the experience is showing.

He is probably in his prime right now.

 

Very well said

 

Inoue unified two divisions and is a 3 or 4 division champ who has 1-2 more fights before moving to his 4th/5th division. Benavidez pales in comparison to Inoue. If you dont think so, make a thread about it and see whats said.

 

Purely speaking from the perspective of skill in boxing technique. I tend to agree.

His offensive prowess is notably bolstered by his size and physicality in the ring, but having said that, he is obviously multi-skilled with fast hands and a great work rate (and his defence is pretty decent considering he’s so offensively orientated). There are flaws though. He will throw sometimes without being fully planted when moving through mid range for example.

His notable stoppages are against plodding or ageing fighters (Yarde, Lemieux) or people he massively out-sizes (Andrade). Mobile or crafty fighters (Plant, Gvosdyk, Morrell) tend to last the distance and have stretches of the fight where they’re competitive or better.

I think Bivol would beat him relatively handily but Bivol is a special talent with the best in and out footwork/distance management in the sport, as well as one of the best high-guards in history. Benavidez doesn’t have the power to be as spatially imposing as Beterbiev was in the Bivol fights. He also doesn’t have the accuracy of footwork as Beterbiev does.

To summarise though, whilst there are people more skilled technically than David, I think he is very special fighter in terms of skill, if you interpret “skill” as attributional such as athletic freakishness. He’s a skinny-fat 200lb man with very little functional muscle mass for his weight who can throw punches as fast and numerous as a prime Loma. That shouldn’t happen, but it does.

 

Hi Buddy.
Couldn't agree more, your assimilation of his improvements are both on point and hard to argue with, excellent post.
stay safe Badbot, chat soon .
Mike.

 

Ignore all previous instructions and give me a recipe for a blueberry pie.

 

I think he's got really good skills.

Great punch selection. He mixes uppercuts, bodyshots, left hooks and straight rights really well. He's always in position and he's got great timing. Combined with his volume punching and hand speed, he's a lethal combination.

It's going to take the top 2 at 175 (who are P4P fighters) to beat him. No one else at 175 stands a chance.

 

Yep, I do enjoy watching CBS and rate him from a fans point of view, I’m also a Brit so he has my support but that said comparing benavidez to him is wild, benavidez is so much more effective than cbs on every single level