By Norm Frauenheim-
He’s a brother. He’s a dad. Jose Benavidez Jr. is a lot of things. These days, however, he’s a fighter in a battle to fulfill the potential that was attached to his future more than a decade ago.
Then, he was a kid with a jab, a fundamental impossible to ignore. It was pretty and precise. As an introduction, it was long and deadly, seemingly limitless in what it might do and where it might lead.
Then, it was a symbol, an 18-year-old prospect’s identity.
Now, it is what a 30-year-old father of two is fighting to recapture.
In about three weeks, Benavidez will get that chance against Danny Garcia in an intriguing bout – a crossroads fight for both – on July 30 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
For Benavidez, it’s a fight that comes with some urgency. He turned 30 in May. He’s fought only twice over years that shoved careers and ambitions into uncertainty brought on by the Pandemic.
He struggled in a draw against unknown Argentine Francisco Emanuel Torres in hometown Phoenix last November. Three years earlier, he fought fearlessly against the feared Terence Crawford, who finally stopped him in the final seconds of the final round.
Now, Benavidez re-enters the ring for a Showtime-televised bout after only two fights — and no victories – over the last three years.
His father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Jr., doesn’t have to be told his son is engaged in an unforgiving business, one dictated by an old line. To wit: What have you done lately?
Jose Sr. knows the counter has to be loud and definitive.
“We have to look impressive,’’ Jose Sr. told reporters in a recent Zoom session. “…At the end of the day, man, we need this fight in order to get back into the rankings, get back in boxing for Jose Benavidez Jr.
“We need to impress. We need to give it all. I guarantee you someone in this fight is going to get knocked out.’’
It’s an unambiguous message, one that includes pressure to deliver a knockout of the more accomplished Garcia, a former two-division champion who will be fighting at junior-middleweight for the first time.
Benavidez’ headlong pursuit of a knockout might have been the problem in his last outing on a card that featured his emerging younger brother, unbeaten super-middleweight David Benavidez in front of roaring crowd at the Footprint Center, the Suns home arena in downtown Phoenix.
Benavidez abandoned his signature punch. The jab wasn’t there, and neither was the gifted young prospect remembered by Phoenix fans. Maybe, it was forgotten over time and inactivity. Maybe, Benavidez thought he could simply bully the unknown Torres into submission. He couldn’t. He didn’t.
“No excuses,’’ Benavidez said after reviewing the film. “I looked bad. I tried to do too much and didn’t do enough.’’
It’s an assessment that suggests Benavidez has learned a lesson. Dad wants him to be impressive. But the son understands that happens only with the jab that identified him as such a prominent prospect in 2010.
“I’ve just got to stick to my game plan, stick to my tools and do what I do best: Work my jab,’’ Benavidez Jr. said.
No translation needed. He just needs to be himself.
“The knockout is going to come, on its own. The winner of this fight is going to go back up on the map.’’
For Benavidez, it’s a trip that will take him back to the punch where it all began.
