Jim Lampley, the previous HBO commentator, says David Benavidez will now be an underdog against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol based on his performance last Saturday night against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Benavidez’s Limited Options
Lampley feels that Benavidez’s options are limited after he struggled against the previous WBC light heavyweight champion Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs). He notes that Benavidez’s power wasn’t as effective at 175 because it had been at 168, and he faded within the second half of the competition.
Benavidez still emerged victorious, winning a 12-round unanimous decision by the scores of 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109.
Benavidez’s performance didn’t match the judges’ rating, and few people consider he has any probability of beating Bivol or IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
Benavidez’s Probabilities Against Bivol and Beterbiev
Lampley said that he won’t even mention Beterbiev, meaning he doesn’t see Benavidez standing any probability of beating him. That’s how fans view it after watching how ineffective Benavidez looked against the 37-year-old Gvozdyk, a fighter Beterbiev knocked out five years ago and sent into retirement.
“I definitely think if Benavidez doesn’t get a fight against Canelo, he’s an underdog against Dmitry Bivol, and we’re not even going to speak about Beterbiev,” said analyst Jim Lampley to Sean Zittel, discussing David Benavidez’s probabilities against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol after his less-than-spectacular performance in his debut at 175 against former WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk last Saturday night.
Canelo Alvarez: A Potential Opportunity?
“David Benavidez’s options are somewhat limited based on what we saw. He’s got to hope that Canelo Alvarez will change his mind and choose to fight him. Perhaps he’ll like what he saw from a 168-lb fighter who moved as much as 175 and didn’t have as much pop as many individuals expected, including me.”
I don’t think Canelo goes to alter his mind about wanting $200 million for a fight against Benavidez because he’s talked an excessive amount of trash about him in the previous couple of years.
Canelo won’t get any credit if he beats Benavidez now because fans saw how poor he looked against Gvozyk, and lots of of them now view him as a hype job who built his resume off of rigorously picked opponents.
“I predicted a knockout for Benavidez, and within the early rounds, I believed that was what I used to be going to see [against Gvozdyk], after which he appeared to fade somewhat bit against a extremely good experienced veteran fighter with lots to fight for,” said Lampley.
The previous HBO play-by-play host Lampley must have known higher than to choose Benavidez to knockout Gvozdyk because that will never occur.
Benavidez is a volume puncher, and there was no probability that he would get away with fighting that way against Gvozdyk, whose technical skills and power were good for him to establish shop standing in front of him, throwing nonstop punches the best way he’d done at 168 against marginal opposition.
“Perhaps the seven kilos made a difference in how heavy David’s punches were, and he needed to weather the temporary storm and go away with a choice victory,” said Lampley.
“I believe he slowed enough within the second half of the fight where Canelo will need to examine the cash and see exactly how much it’s value to him to go in and take whatever risk inherent in fighting David Benavidez.”
Benavidez began slowing after the fourth round last Saturday night and looked exhausted and weak. His power was never there from round one, but that wasn’t a surprise because Benavidez has never been a puncher at 168. His knockouts have mostly come from his volume punching, hitting his opponents with an accumulation of shots.
“Perhaps after him, he’ll think, ‘There’s no risk in any respect. I’m Canelo Alvarez. I actually have essentially the most proven punch resistance in the game. He’s not going to harm me,’” said Lampley.
“I believe there’s a possibility here for Canelo to think exactly that based on what he saw. Is Canelo a much bigger puncher than Oleksandr Gvozdyk? I believe he’s. There’s a whole lot of ways for Canelo to have a look at this and think, ‘I’m a favourite over David Benavidez,’” said Lampley.
