Interim Super Lightweight titlist Mauricio Herrera will defend his belt against undefeated prospect Jose Benavidez on December 13 as part of the Timothy Bradley – Diego Chaves televised undercard in Las Vegas.
“He’s ready to fish or cut bait,” said Benavidez promoter Bob Arum. “You got to take a shot at some point. He wanted this fight. You win, you go on; you lose, you go back to the drawing board. But at a certain point, you have to take that plunge. This is a good fight, and if he wins, he’s ready to fight anybody in the division.”
“Benavidez appears to be physically and mentally ready for this,” said Top Rank’s Carl Moretti. “He knows he has a challenge in front of him. I don’t see at this point what two or three more fights would do to get him ready for a fight at this level, so we are taking the shot.”
Arum said he is working with HBO on a deal to turn the Dec. 13 card into a tripleheader by including Matt Korobov against Andy Lee for the middleweight world title Peter Quillin recently vacated.
According to Arum and Lee promoter Lou DiBella, both sides have agreed to take the fight but no deal can be finalized until HBO agrees to put the fight on and comes to an agreement on a license fee.
“Andy wants this opportunity,” DiBella said. “We like the fight. We think it’s a winnable fight and quality matchup. The numbers for the fight aren’t done but we’ve told them we will do the fight.”
Moretti said they were waiting for an answer from HBO, which has been mulling it over for about a week.
Korobov-Lee was initially ticketed to take place Dec. 13 in Ireland on a Frank Warren-promoted card, but Arum said those plans fell through.
“I think it’s a terrific fight and I can’t wait to see it. That’s how I judge a fight,” Arum said. “Who the hell knows who will win the fight? HBO is interested, and I hope we will get it done.”
“Even though it’s two lefties, their styles should make for a very entertaining fight in the ring,” Moretti said. “Andy Lee has a little bit more experience and has shown the ability to come back from adversity like he did with one punch against Jackson. And this is the opportunity that Korobov has been training his whole life for, a shot at a world title.”
