David Benavidez looks to keep his super-middleweight mandatory position against Demetrius Andrade this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Both undefeated, a win means a shot at undisputed champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez in 2024.
Benavidez has been champion twice already in the division, and has fought all of his fights at 168 if not higher. That’s in stark contrast to Andrade, who has been super-welter and middleweight world champion, this being just his second fight in the super-middle division.
Two-weight world champion Tim Bradley has praise for both men. Speaking on ProBox TV, he said that the match-up is a great one.
“I don’t think this division has ever seen anything like Benavidez. We’ve never seen anything like him. A guy as big as he is, that has a motor that runs the way his runs, hand speed like a middleweight, can go to the body, puts a ton of pressure on you. An incredible skillset.”
“On the flip-side you have Andrade who’s come up from 154 pounds. Extremely talented. Blue-chip prospect. A gold medalist I think in the World Championships. He’s finally getting his challenge, he gets to prove everybody wrong.”
Whilst he feels like Andrade has – or had – the tools to beat Benavidez, Bradley seems to settle on the idea that his time to do so has been and gone.
“I feel like BooBoo can win this fight, I really do, but I think that the door might be closed already. 35-year-old, the competition that he’s faced over the years, that has a lot to do with it. He’s never seen anything like he’s gonna see on Saturday night.”
One man will lose his undefeated record in Sin City this weekend, the other securing a title shot next year.