Phoenix boxer looks for middleweight title in Glendale bout
David Benavídez shares main event status at Gila River Arena in May
Independent Newsmedia
Posted 4/4/22
Unbeaten two-time world champion and Phoenix-native David “El Bandera Roja” Benavídez should have a home-crowd advantage when he battles former world champion David Lemieux in a 12-round showdown for the vacant Interim WBC Super Middleweight Title in Glendale.
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Unbeaten two-time world champion and Phoenix-native David “El Bandera Roja” Benavídez should have a home-crowd advantage when he battles former world champion David Lemieux in a 12-round showdown for the vacant Interim WBC Super Middleweight Title in Glendale.
The bout will headline live on Showtime at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 21 from Gila River Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Ave., in a Premier Boxing Champions event.
The card will also see hard-hitting Cuban prospect Yoelvis Gómez take on Mexico’s Jorge Cota in the 10-round super welterweight co-main event.
Still just 25-years-old, Benavídez (25-0, 22 KOs) enters the fight having knocked out his last five opponents, including a September 2019 knockout of two-time super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell. Most recently, Benavidez returned to fight in Arizona for the first time since 2015 and delivered a dominating seventh-round knockout of Kyrone Davis.
Benavídez is trained by his father José Sr., alongside his brother and former title challenger, José Jr.
In 2017, he became the youngest super middleweight champion in boxing history by defeating Ronald Gavril on Showtime at just 20 years old. Benavídez went from a 15-year-old prodigy to world title contender with a 10-fight knockout streak from 2015 through 2017, including a highlight-reel knockout of Rogelio Medina with a seven-punch combination that earned him his first title opportunity.
“I’m excited to be fighting for another belt, and I’m training extremely hard because it is another big opportunity for my career and future,” Benavídez shared in a statement. “David Lemieux still has a lot of power, so I have to make sure I sharpen all my skills 100 percent.”
