By Norm Frauenheim
PHOENIX –- He was a 16-year-old prodigy. Then, he was a 17-year-old prospect with a contract before he had a high-school diploma. Now, Jose Benavidez Jr. is 22 with something to prove.
“I want everyone to know that I’m ready for tougher fights,’’ Benavidez said. “It’s time for me to step it up a notch.’’
Benavidez (20-0, 14 KOs) hopes to deliver that message Saturday night against Colombian Henry Aurad (16-8-1, 13 KOs) in only his second hometown appearance at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix on a UniMas-televised card that includes two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (11-0, 11 KOs), a Top Rank prospect and featherweight from the border-town of Nogales with roots in Tucson.
Boxing’s rite of passage is a well-worn path, but there’s no sure way to travel through it. Most don’t. Some get lost along the way. Some get exposed. Some are forgotten. It all starts with the hyperbole attached to any news conference that promises a phenomenon.
For Benavidez, that meant comparisons to the biggest star in today’s game. He was called the next Floyd Mayweather Jr. By now, history is littered with futile examples of the next Michael Jordan. Pity the next LeBron James. For media familiar with the hype, it’s an easy headline. But for an impressionable 17-year-old introduced as an heir-apparent, it’s seductive stuff. Misleading, too.
The fine print always includes adversity, which for Benavidez began with injuries to his right wrist and hand. Pain in a ligament and a bone spur turned him into a one-handed fighter, which Benavidez overcame with his eye-catching jab. It allowed to him to survive in October, 2012 for a decision over Pavel Miranda, who in the eighth and final round landed a left hand that nearly knocked out Benavidez.
There was surgery and rehab. There also was sudden inactivity in an internet-ruled business that quickly moves onto the next heir-apparent. Benavidez had not been forgotten. Not exactly. But the YouTube fascination with him had faded. His dad and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., worried.
“It was just little things,’’ his dad said. “Sometimes, he was a little late to the gym. That never happened when he was younger. I didn’t know whether he was frustrated, or his body just needed some rest, or what was going on. I just decided not to push him, to let him go his own way for a while’’
His son said there was never any thought about leaving the sport.
“No, boxing has always been there for me,’’ said Benavidez, who was always at ringside for Phoenix bouts staged by Iron Boy Promotions, a Top Rank partner for a card scheduled to begin Saturday at 6 p.m. (PST). “I always knew that.’’
Not fighting, Benavidez said, helped him re-evaluate his commitment to a sport he has been around, in one way or another, since grade school. As a kid, there was no choice. As a grown-up, there is. Watching others fight, he said, made him realize how much he missed it and how much he still wanted to prove.
“Physically, I feel a lot stronger at 22 than I did when I was 17,’’ said Benavidez, who started at junior-welterweight and will fight at welterweight Saturday. “As a person, I’ve just grown up.’’
He says he’s had no problems with his hand in training or in three straight victories since he got rocked by Miranda, an unknown junior welterweight on the undercard of Brandon Rios’ victory over Mike Alvarado in their first fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
“It’s just time for me to get back to work and prove I’m ready for the next level,’’ said Benavidez, a kid-no-more. “In my hometown, this is the fight to do just that.’’
Meanwhile, it’s no coincidence that Valdez is sharing a card with Benavidez, who five years ago was seen as a fighter who could re-awaken an Arizona market dormant since Phoenix Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal’s heyday during the 1990s. Valdez, who is scheduled to face Juan Ruiz (23-13, 7 KOs) was a well-known Mexican amateur who fought often in Arizona. Valdez, who is bi-lingual, re-calls going to grade school in Tucson.
“At this point, he’s very good, a terrific prospect,” Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler told reporters after Valdez stopped Adian Perez on the undercard of Manny Pacquaio’s rematch victory over Timothy Bradley last April at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand “We have a credo: Ability and marketability. We think he has both. When a guy can fight, brings an audience from Mexico, Arizona and California, that’s a big fan base.’’
