By Norm Frauenheim
David Benavidez has moved up the scale and into the pound-for-pound ratings, both marks of progress that say that bigger stardom is imminent.
But one thing hasn’t changed.
Benavidez is still maturing.
Still waiting, too.
The wait game continues with his approaching date, a light-heavyweight title defense against Anthony Yarde on a date, Nov. 22, and place, Riyadh, that might test that maturity as much as the opponent.
It’s easy to think of Benavidez as forever young, mostly because of his resume. He was a 20-year-old champion, youngest in the history of the super-middleweight division and young in any weight class.
But there is no forever in young. There’s only that clock, stubborn and relentlessly demanding. Benavidez begins a new stage just five days before Thanksgiving. He’ll enter the ring at 28, within a month of turning 29 on Dec. 17. Ready or not, his prime has arrived. So, too, have the expectations that come with it.
He’s already been fighting professionally for more than a decade. He made his debut as a teenager in Puerto Penasco, a Sonoran fishing town at the top of the Gulf of California about four hours south of Phoenix, his hometown. He won that one and that’s all he’s done ever since.
He’s won, and only won, at a ferocious rate and in a punishing manner that has denied him a true test of his maturity. That’s what happens when a feared fighter gets stuck with the most-avoided tag. He gets stuck in the waiting room, an enforced limbo with lots of potential, but none of it ever completely fulfilled by a significant test. Blame Canelo Alvarez. Blame boxing’s balkanized politics. Blame both.
Now, however, Benavidez enters a stage of his career armed with the potential to generate more money and a name now known to be among the second five in the pound-for-pound-for-pound debate. Both represent leverage, enough of it perhaps to secure the defining fight he has yet to land.
For now, however, the frustration is that it’s still not there. Surely, it’s not Yarde. Benavidez is a 10-to-1 favorite to beat the UK challenger in a 175-pound title defense.
Already, there’s confusion about whether and when the big fight will finally land on his calendar. When the November date with Yarde was first announced by Saudi Prince and promoter Turki Alalshikh, it was thought that a Benavidez victory would lead to a showdown for the light-heavyweight’s undisputed crown against the winner of a third Artur Beterbiev-Dmitrii Bivol fight.
But Beterbiev-Bivol 3 fell apart. First, there were rumors that there was Russian money involved for a fight expected to be in a nation still trying to destroy Ukraine in Vladimir Putin’s desperate war. Even by boxing’s crazy standards, it just made no sense. As it turned out, a third Bivol-Beterbiew fight didn’t either.
Finally, Bivol announced on social media that he decided to undergo back surgery, a procedure that will sideline him for at least the rest of this year.
Frustrated, Beterbiev decided to move on. Eventually, he was added to the Nov. 22 card against second-tier contender Deon Nicholson. Presumably, the idea is for Benavidez to fight Beterbiev. But Beterbiev is fighting at an age when most are making comebacks. He’s from the generation personified by Manny Pacquiao, who at 46 came back last month and fought Mario Barrios to a draw.
Beterbiev is 40. He’ll be 41 before – make that if – he ever agrees to fight Benavidez, who is at an age and a point in his career when he needs a defining date.
It could still happen, of course. For Benavidez, the immediate task is to take care of business – simply do his job. Benavidez has yet to fight outside of North America. In Riyadh, Benavidez figures to fight at an unusual hour, perhaps early in the morning in a move to accommodate viewers in Mexico and the United States.
In a tune-up for his fight next month against Terence Crawford at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, Canelo fought William Scull May 7 at 6 a.m., Riyadh time.
Canelo complained about the early hour after delivering a dull – call it sleepy – performance at dawn. The crowd wasn’t exactly awake either. From Phoenix to Vegas, Benavidez – known for his abundant energy in the later rounds — has been fueled by loud, passionate crowds.
How he’ll react without one at an unusual hour could prove problematic against Yarde, whose only edge might be his well-traveled resume.
Put it this way: Benavidez might have to beat more than just Yarde in a bout that could finally get him out of the waiting room and into prime time.
