I weighed 260lb at 15, sparred hard hitting Gennady Golovkin, became youngest super middleweight champion and could fight Canelo
11/21/2023 12:30 PM
David Benavidez’s transformation to become a world champion at 20 has been dramatic.
As a 15-year-old, the super-middleweight king weighed 260lbs and looked a long way off ever having the discipline to become a professional boxer let alone actually win a world title.
The American had been boxing since the age of three, but in his early teens he stepped back from the sport and that was when the problems started.
"I stopped training for two years and ate everything — McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, a strict fast-food diet,” Benavidez told the Los Angeles Times.
After returning to the gym, however, it was clear the young Benavidez had talent, as he was already sparring boxing legend Gennady Golovkin, who was in his prime at the time.
Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, recalled the sparring session in an interview with The Ring, saying: "We saw him five years ago. He was 15 years old and he wanted to spar with Gennady. We allowed him, and he actually held his own. He didn't do bad.”
Benavidez, though, had no idea about the man he was sharing a ring with. "When I first met him, I didn't know who he was…" Benavidez explained.
“I remember looking across the ring, he was getting ready, and he just gave me this penetrating look. It was horrifying, to be honest with you."
Benavidez continued: “I held my own ground. Imagine being 15 and sparring Golovkin. His power was amazing, but like I said, I held my ground and I learned a lot from it."
A year later, at just 16 years old and with an amateur record of 15-0, Benavidez turned over to the professional ranks.
Now weighing just under 168lbs, Benavidez was forced to fight in Mexico for the first few years of his career, as he was not yet old enough to compete as a professional in the USA.
After fighting seven times in Mexico and knocking out every opponent he faced, with all but one KO coming in the first round, Benavidez returned to fight in his home country.
Despite his success, however, Benavidez had still not managed to attract the attention of a promoter until he was invited into the camp of former Olympian Julius Jackson as a sparring partner.
In their first session, Benavidez battered Jackson, as he noted in an interview with Sports Illustrated: “I'm not even playing, I landed like an 18-punch combination.”
Even Benavidez’s dad, Jose Benavidez Sr, who had always been his biggest supporter, was shocked: “After that, his life changed. I didn't know he was that good. He was the ugly duckling. Nobody had believed in him but us."
Benavidez was then signed by a promoter called Sampson Lewkowicz, under whose guidance his career was able to really take off.
After just 18 fights and 18 wins, Benavidez had worked his way to a world title shot against Ronald Gavril.
The build-up to the fight was tumultuous to say the least for Benavidez, as his older brother Jose Benavidez Jr, who is also a professional boxer, was shot in the leg putting his career in jeopardy.
Then, just three weeks before Benavidez was scheduled to be in the ring, he received a phone call that his Uncle had been fatally shot during a confrontation with police in Arizona.
As if this weren’t enough to deal with, Benavidez came down with flu just days before the fight, but he still made it to the ring and won by split decision to become the WBC world champion and the youngest super middleweight title holder ever at just 20 years old.
His rise to the top is something he is quite rightly proud of and serves as a reminder to those thinking they can’t achieve the same.
Posting a video on Instagram of his early training in 2018, he said: “Throw back of when I was 260 pounds at 14 years old. Everyone would laugh when I would say I wanted to be champion of the world the only people that believe in me was my family who always support me in my dreams.
“Anything is possible don’t ever let these haters say it’s not, you got the power to go out and get it and make it happen for yourself.”
Benavidez immediately defended his world title in a rematch with Gavril, but before he could make his second defence, he tested positive for Benzoylecgonine, the central compound found in cocaine, and he was stripped of his belt.
At the time, Benavidez tweeted an apology, saying: “I would like to sincerely apologize to the WBC for my actions I am embarrassed to have this happen and to my all my fans that I lost the respect of I know a lot of people won't see me the same but I am young and it was a mistake on my behalf.”
Following a comeback fight against J’Leon Love, Benavidez was quickly back in the world title mix, as a year later he found himself in with a shot at Anthony Dirrell, knocking him out in the ninth round to claim back his WBC world title.
This did not last long, however, as in his next fight Benavidez was once again stripped of the belt for missing weight ahead of his clash with Roamer Alexis Angulo, although he did go on to beat the Colombian.
After that, the belts all became tied up by the current undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo, leaving little opportunity for Benavidez to regain his title.
With that being said, after winning his most recent outing against former world champion, Caleb Plant, a clash with Canelo edges ever closer.
And should Benavidez maintain his unbeaten record against another former world champion in Demetrius Andrade on Saturday night, then the clamour from fans for him to fight Canelo will become unavoidable for the Mexican.
“I expect Benavidez to stop Demetrius Andrade,” promoter Eddie Hearn said. “And when he does, I think he's gonna make a real claim to fight Canelo Alvarez.”
Hearn insists Canelo will have no issue taking the fight given that he fears no one.
