David Benavidez says he saw fear in the eyes of Demetrius Andrade during their first face-off on Thursday during their kickoff press conference for their fight on November 25th. Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) admits that Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) may have been more in a light mood because he was joking around during the press conference.
Andrade seemed annoyed when told by the media that Benavidez saw fear in his eyes. The former two-division world champion Andrade said he wants Benavidez to keep trying to scare him moving forward because he believes it will help him fight better on November 25th.
Benavidez had his WBC interim super middleweight belt slung over his right shoulder during the press conference, which some boxing fans felt was a little odd because it’s more a place-holder type of title, meaning that he’ll be getting a title shot soon or elevated to full champion status if he beats Andrade and the WBC champion Canelo Alvarez chooses not to fight him.
The November 25th Benavidez-Andrade event will be shown on Showtime PPV and will take place at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Benavidez’s brother, Jose Jr., will be fighting Jermall Charlo in the co-feature spot on the card.
What could be a real disappointment for Benavidez is if Jose Jr. gets the title shot against Canelo rather than him if they both win their fights on November 25th.
Benavidez saw fear, and he’s glad
“It’s a good Ambience. We’re having a good time. It doesn’t change anything from the fact that we’re going to both try to knock each other’s head off,” said David Benavidez to the media, talking about his kick-off press conference today on Thursday for his fight against Demetrius Andrade on November 25th.
“It’s fun, it’s something different. It doesn’t always have to be hate. We can come together to have a good conversation and still be hyped up about it. So I’m very excited, I’m very happy.”
Andrade always keeps things light during his press conferences with his opponent because he doesn’t feel he needs to win by intimidation. Those are moves that are done by worried & insecure fighters who don’t believe in their ability to win inside the ring. Is Benavidez insecuree? It seems like it.
“I looked into a soul. I saw that he was scared, to be honest with you,” said Benavidez when asked about his face-off with Andrade. He’s probably going to say the same thing about me. I know exactly what I’m going to do, and I know exactly how I’m preparing.”
Hopefully, Benavidez isn’t banking on using intimidation to try and win the fight, because he’s not going to scare Andrade into not throwing punches. That’s silly and suggests that Benavidez is naive and not overly bright.
“You know me, man. I’m the ‘Mexican Monster.’ He’s a very technical fighter; he’s a very good fighter,” said Benavidez. “He’s a champion in two different weight classes. So I feel like a lot of people didn’t take a fight with him because they know he’s a problem, but for me, I just want to be the best.”
Andrade says that Mike Tyson must have been high when he came up with the moniker ‘Mexican Monster’ for Benavidez because he doesn’t think much of it.
“Not only do I want to prove to the people, I want to prove to myself that I’m the best. Because he’s a top fighter,” said Benavidez when asked why Andrade is a threat to him. It’s always when you get fighters like this, it’s always 50/50.
“He’s a top fighter. I have nothing but respect for him; he’s a great fighter and very technical. He has power, and so he’s a threat to anybody,” said Benavidez.
“I’m a killer” – Benavidez
“I think that’s just how he is, to be honest with you. I’m ready to
do what I do,” said Benavidez. I’m excited, and I’ve been training extremely hard, and this is just how I am. I’m a I’m a cool person outside the ring, but in the ring, I’m a killer.”
Andrade is likely going to be looking to outbox Benavidez and neutralize his power game. If Benavidez is going to have a chance of winning, he’s going to have to make it an inside fight because Andrade has the better outside game.
“That’s for me to find out. That’s for me. I can’t give out my little secret plan,” said Benavidez when asked how he’s going to deal with the long-range game of Andrade. “He’s a good fighter.
“There’s a lot of things that he does good, but the thing about it is that you don’t wait for one particular fighter. You have to learn how to fight the inside game and the outside game, and that’s what we’ve
been doing our whole career.
“Yeah, Plant,” said Benavidez when asked if Caleb Plant taught him how to fight someone with an outside game. I’ve always had a lot of sparring partners who are boxers and move around a lot, so it just really depends.
“It’s not like I’m new to this. I’ve seen this style over and over again, so I know what to do,” said Benavidez.
