By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Super Middleweight Champion David Benavidez of Phoenix, Arizona will be defending his title in a rematch against Ronald Gavril of Romania this Saturday, Feb. 17th at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. On Showtime. TSN 2 will be showing it on tape delay the next afternoon at 12:30 ET in Canada. The two first met last September in Vegas with Benavidez being dropped in the 12th round, but still managing to win a split decision to take the vacant title.
Benavidez is a hard-hitting 21 year old who turned pro back in 2013 after a short amateur career which saw him go 15-0. He’s boxed 64 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 rematch with a perfect record of 19-0 along with 17 Kos. He’s got a lot of power as his record shows with a current knockout ratio of 89 per cent.
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 in the 12th round last year. Benavidez is just over 6-feet-1-inch tall with a reach of 77 inches. His biggest wins so far have been over Gavril, Rogelio (Porky) Medina, and Denis Douglin. He’s an excellent prospect at his age mainly because of his power, but could be a force to reckon with as his boxing skills develop with experience.
Gavril is 10 years older than Benavidez at 31, and he’ll climb into the ring with a mark of 18-2 along with 14 Kos. He’s also a hard hitter with a knockout ratio of 70 per cent. Gavril has been a pro since
2011 and has boxed 106 rounds since then. He’s 6-feet-2-inches tall with a reach of 72.5 inches. This gives him a slight half-inch height advantage over Benavidez, but he has a reach disadvantage of 4.5 inches. Gavril hails from Bacau, Romania, but fights out of Las Vegas.
Gavril had a fine amateur career with a record of 165-15. He hasn’t really met any top notch opponents as of yet, but has already fought Benavidez and beaten the likes of Jessie Nicklow, Scott Sigmon and Christopher Brooker. His win over Brooker in October of 2016 was for the NABF Super Middleweight Championship. His two losses came against Benavidez and to Elvin Ayala by an eight-round unanimous decision in March of 2015.
Prediction…
Gavril showed Benavidez how tough he is in the first fight and put an exclamation mark on his performance with the last-round knockdown. Still, he lost the fight though. I think this will be another good tilt with Benavidez being better prepared this time. Both boxers should have their moments, but look for Benavidez to retain his title in an exciting bout.
