By Ian S Palmer
WBC Super Middleweight Champion Anthony Dirrell of Flint, Michigan will attempt to defend it against the former champ, undefeated David Benavidez of Phoenix, Arizona this Saturday, September 28th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The 12 round bout can be seen live on Fox Pay-Per-View in the USA and on Sky Sports Action in the UK. Dirrell regained the vacant title in February by a 10-round technical decision over Avni Yildirim. Benavidez last boxed in March when he stopped J’Leon Love in the second round.
The 34-year-old Dirrell will enter the ring with a fine record of 33-1-1 along with 24 Kos. He’s a good boxer, but not quite in the upper echelon or elite class at the moment. His best performances have come against Caleb Truax, Marco Antonio Rubio and Sakio Bika, who he fought on two occasions. Dirrell fought to a 12-round draw with Bika in their first meeting in December, 2013 and then took Bika’s WBC crown via unanimous decision the next time out in August of 2014. However, Dirrell then lost the crown to Sweden’s Badou Jack by majority decision in April of 2015.
His next fight was a 10-round unanimous decision over Rubio five months later. Dirrell is big for the 168 lb as he division stands just over 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a 74.5-inch reach. He’s beaten everybody he’s faced other than Jack and has an impressive knockout rate of 68.6 per cent. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 2007 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments for close to two years before fighting again. Dirrell turned pro back in 2005 and has fought 150 rounds since then.
Benavidez won the vacant WBC belt in September, 2017 with a split decision over Ronald Gavril even though he was dropped in the 12th round. He then beat Gavril by unanimous decision in a rematch. Five months later. He sat out for a year after testing positive for cocaine and returned earlier this year against Love. Benavidez is a hard-hitting 22 year old who turned pro back in 2013 after a short amateur career which saw him go 15-0. He’s boxed 78 rounds as a pro and won the vacant NABF Junior Light Heavyweight Title in April of 2015 with a first-round TKO of Rollin Williams.
He enters the match with a perfect record of 21-0 along with 18 Kos. He’s got a lot of power as his record shows with a current knockout ratio of 85.7 per cent, but Gavril took him the distance in both of their fights. Benavidez likes to slug it out and that means he’s not really the hardest guy to hit, but he has a decent chin even though Gavril decked him. Benavidez is just over 6-feet-1-inch tall with a reach of 77 inches. He’s about half an inch shorter than Dirrell but has a 2.5-inch advantage in reach. His biggest wins so far have been over Gavril, Rogelio (Porky) Medina, and Denis Douglin.
Prediction…
Benavidez is an excellent prospect at his age mainly because of his power and should be a force to reckon with as his boxing skills develop with experience. Dirrell has the edge in experience and enters the fight with good power and a solid chin but he’s 12 years older than Benavidez and that age difference along with the youngster’s ;power should eventually catch up with him. I expect Benavidez to regain the title as long as he’s not careless.
