Is David Benavidez overrated?

You don't have to beat great fighters to be elite. I wouldn't classify anyone Usyk beat as great, but there are a lot of good, solid wins

 

I'd rate Zurdo as better than Dubois or Joshua pretty comfortably. If someone feels otherwise I'd love to hear the reasoning

 

Donaire was 1 week away from 37, the same age as Gvozdyk when David beat him and you should know that 37 at those lighter weights is far worse than in higher weights. Donaire was ancient and well past his best.

25lbs is a higher percentage of body weight than 14lbs so again not sure how its harder. Its very hard to get elite. GGG never had one. Canelo had one. Shakur has none. Bivol and Beterbiev did not get an elite until they fought each other late in their careers.

 

I expect the fight to look similar to the Andrade fight. David just breaking him down and beating him up. That's if Bivol ever takes the fight which I doubt. I think he chases old man Beterbiev and by 2027 David wont be able to make 175. It's been 3 years since David moved up and he still can't get Bivol in the ring for various reasons.

Everyone shits on Andrade now but he was one of the most awkward and slick southpaws out there with some of the best defensive stats, and he was as big as Bivol, yet David broke him down pretty fast. The body work would be the key, David would get to it with his range and speed much better than Beterbiev did who is mainly a head hunter. David TKO.

Lots of people keep minimizing David's resume which results in underrating him, meanwhile David moves up 25lbs and stops a unified champion. His resume is underrated and so is he, and I have been saying it for years. He is just different.

 

Benavidez first fought at LHW in June of 2024. He did so as a non-titleist at 168 moving up, and therefore not in title contention yet at 175. Cast your mind back; what was happening then at 175? I’ll remind you. Beterbiev was pulling out of the unification fight due to injury, and it was rescheduled for October. Roll on October, and the fight happens. It’s close and deserves the rematch. The rematch happens some 4 months later with no stalling. Bivol vacates the WBC as he was not ready for a defense, because he had obligations for a 3rd Beterbiev fight in the court of public opinion, and also the fact that Benavidez at the time hadn’t really gained a win at 175 that made him appear to be a more credible opponent than Beterbiev. In the end, he went to get back surgery, and is coming back straight into a mandatory defense in 2 weeks. Get your calendar out. That’s not 3 years of Benavidez trying to get Bivol into the ring. It’s 13 months of him being a paper champion whilst Bivol was medically inactive. Do your research.

On the Andrade point: Slick southpaws who have no notable opponents tend to have very good defensive stats by definition. Obvs I’m not sh1tting on Andrade. He was a tricky operator with great combination punching, but he was so small in there next to Benavidez. And he stood in the pocket too much in that fight. Bivol doesn’t fight in the pocket. He makes a conceited effort to circle out of the pocket when he’s getting close to the ropes, and regardless of offensive prowess, Bivol’s footwork is leagues ahead of Benavidez. He’d be able to get wherever he wanted in there.

Now obviously if Bivol appears to have lost a step after the surgery and recovery, I agree that Benavidez on current form looks in a really good place to score that win, but if we’re being honest, someone as technically proficient as Bivol, who went 24 rounds with Beterbiev who is a genetic freak with granite hands throwing 1000 punches in each fight, would get through 12 with Benavidez, win or lose.

 

Gvozdyk had 3 fights in the previous 12 months before he fought David. He was very active.

 

Ye I got my date mixed up its been 2 years and counting. There was no contract obligation for a 3rd Beterbiev fight, he is fighting a random bum now. If he does not fight David next, that is another duck.

Andrade's footwork was leagues above David's , so was Plants, Gvozdyk's, Morrell's , Dirrell's. Notice a pattern? It don't matter, he gets to them and breaks them down. Andrade was not small, look at the weigh in , he was huge, and just as big as Bivol.

 

No it isn’t 2 years and counting. June 2024 is less than 2 years ago. And like I said, Benavidez was only in title contention after beating Morell, which was 1 month before the second Bivol v Beterbiev fight. Because of that fight being in Feb 2025, and usually allowing fighters a grace period of a couple/3 months to rest and begin camp again, Bivol could only have avoided Benavidez for 12 months - which he hasn’t. Because he’s had surgery. Keep up.

There wasn’t a contractual obligation, you’re right, and that’s why I made it clear in my reply that it was largely down to the court of public opinion that the 3rd fight was going to be made.

Regardless, Bivol is fighting a mandatory, and after a layoff, who can begrudge a fighter of a slightly lighter touch? Let alone a layoff due to surgery. I think claiming that Bivol is deliberately fighting a bum isn’t objective, nor is it in the spirit of a good faith debate on this subject.

Everyone has better footwork than David, but Bivol has better footwork than everyone to the extent that it isn’t even a comparison to mention Plant and Andrade, Govzdyk, Direll and Morell as a talking point to the argument of how Benavidez would overcome Bivol’s footwork.

Andrade looked like a 168lb man at the weigh in. Kind of like a 154lb fighter fighting at 168 would - kind of like Charlo, no? I’m sure you wouldn’t say he looked as big as Benavidez when he was in there with Canelo getting bullied?

Lastly though, I agree. If Bivol gets past Eifert problem free and doesn’t fight Benavidez for all the marbles at 175, I’ll be the first to come out and call it a duck. However, if Benavidez comes out with any catchweight or Cruiserweight talks, I’ll be saying the same of Benavidez.

Let’s see what happens anyway.

 

i don't see it. i think david schools him after watching jai closely and seeing his performances. im rarely that certain about an outcome, but i see them at different levels.

 

David has fought 3 southpaws in his last 5 fights, something which is pretty rare and he has spanked all of them. His killer lead right hand is money against them. I was worried about Jai until his last performance where he looked mediocre against a basic pressure fighter. He spent large parts of that fight in the clinch with him. If he does that against David he is toast.