David Benavidez says he’s ready to face replacement opponent Kyrone Davis this Saturday night on November 13th on Showtime at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
The former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) isn’t concerned about needing to make an adjustment to the 27-year-old Davis’ style from that of his originally scheduled opponent Jose Uzcategui, who was pulled from the card after failing a pre-fight drug test.
Benavidez, 24, feels that he’s done all the hard work already in training camp, and his style of fighting will work against Kyone just as well as it would have for Uzcategui.
Given Davis’ lack of punching power, this fight could end early, possibly within six rounds if he’s unable to slow Benavidez down.
Although Davis recently fought to a 12 round draw against 37-year-old former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell last February, there’s a big difference between him and Benavidez.
Benavidez not worried about Kyrone
“Yeah, I’ve been really satisfied with the way my camp has gone. I’ve been working for basically four months,” said David Benavidez to PBC Podcast on his 10 round scheduled fight this Saturday on Showtime against Kyrone Davis.
“I’ve trained for a long time for this camp and I’ve worked really hard,” said Benavidez. “Now, I feel like my weight is really good and I’m excited to go in there and perform.
“This is the first fight I’ve had with crowds in two years since Anthony Dirrell. I’m really hyped to fight in my home city and I’m excited to perform.
“Not really,” said Benavidez when asked if it was difficult for him to adjust from training for Jose Uzcategui to Kyrone Davis. “This kind of stuff happens. You have to be ready for it. The game plan remains the same for everybody, and I don’t think it’s a drastic game plan like that.
“Kyrone Davis is a boxer/puncher, but he doesn’t really use the ring that much. In the gym, I was sparring a lot of different guys. I was sparring with three guys in one sparring session. So just having that, you kind of have to adapt to different styles.
“His [Kyrone] style isn’t that out of the ordinary. I’ve seen his style time and time again. I just need to watch him for a couple of more days to see what he does good and what he does bad and set up a game plan for him,” said Benavidez.
“You guys know my style really well. I love to throw jabs, I love to throw combinations, and I love to go to the body. That’s worked against everybody and it’s a really good way to fight. I don’t see where you can go wrong with jabs, and combinations going down to the body.
“It works for everybody, and I’m sure it’s going to work for Kyrone Davis too,” said Benavidez.
Without the power needed to keep Benavidez off, Kyrone likely won’t last too long on Saturday night. He’s going to take a massive amount of punishment from Benavidez if he doesn’t come prepared to use a lot of movement, which he normally never does.
Benavidez disappointed Uzcategui out
“I’m really disappointed about that because I knew this was going to be a hard fighter and a hard-hitting fighter because I’m sparred him before,” Benavidez said in expressing disappointment with Jose Uzcategui being pulling out of the fight.
“I’ve got the best of him, and I feel that’s why he went that way because he knows first hand what I did to him in sparring. That’s why he went about taking the EPOs. It’s not like it’s hard to because of the change of opponent to get up for and get motivated.
“The work was already done basically. The opponent got replaced two weeks ago. So it’s not like it’s at the beginning of the camp or anything like that, but sometimes when you get these replacements, the replacements are harder than the primary fighters.
“It’s surprising that he [Uzcategui] would go to that extent to do that because we had been drug tested a lot for this camp,” said Benavidez about Uzcategui failing a pre-fight drug test. “We had been tested four times, and they caught him two weeks ago.
“He thought the drug testing was going to be over or something. It’s crazy that he didn’t take the steroids. He took the EPO, which is like the pinnacle of steriods. It meant that he was scared or the only opportunity that he had to beat me. But honestly, I feel like I would have beat him on steroids anyway.
“I don’t think it would have mattered. I was extremely ready for this fight, and I was training for the best Uzcategui possible and if they didn’t catch him on steroids, I would have still beat him.
“He was looking for reasons because he was scared. I don’t think I would take steroids to get ready for another man, but I can’t say that about everybody else,” Benavidez said.
It would have been interesting to see how Benavidez dealt with the former IBF super middleweight champion Uzcategui. That would have been a war from start to finish, and the perfect fight for Benavidez to send a message to undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez.
Kyrone lacks power
“I’ve got to be extremely ready because this is a tremendous opportunity for him [Tyrone Davis] and he knows what’s at stake,” Benavidez continued. “If he’s taking the fight, then he’s prepared because he knows I don’t come to play. I’m going to be ready for everything he has on Saturday.
“I feel like I’m the superior puncher, and obviously I have more experience and I have been champion before,” said Benavidez in comparing himself to Kyrone Davis.
“I’ve been in this situation before. I have a very effective jab and very effective combinations and my body shots are really superior too.
“He doesn’t really have punching power like that, and his head movement is not that good either.
“I feel like I’m the better overall fighter, but I’m going to give him the respect he deserves and take the first couple of rounds to study him.
“If I feel there’s nothing there, then I’m going to press and try to give the fans a knockout,” said Benavidez.
The lack of power for Kyrone is going to make it difficult for him to stay in there with Benavidez for long on Saturday. Hopefully, the referee keeps a close eye on the contest to pull the plug if it gets too one-sided in Benavidez’s favor.