On Saturday, November 25th, there will be a battle of undefeated super middleweights when Phoenix, Arizona native David Benavidez takes on the pride of Providence, Rhode Island, Demetrius Andrade. Benavidez comes into the bout with a record of 27-0 with 23 knockouts. Andrade is 32-0 with 19 knockouts.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Andrade and Benavidez come into this bout with impressive resumes. Benavidez has won four of his last five fights by stoppage. The only boxer to go the distance with him was Caleb Plant. Benavidez’s last five opponents had a combined record of 125-9-3.
Andrade has not been as active as Benavidez. Andrade has only fought once since January 2022. He defeated Demond Nicholson on January 7, 2023 in his first fight at 168 pounds. Andrade’s last five opponents had a combined record of 113-10-3.
Each fighter has put themselves in a position for a title fight against the Undisputed Super Middleweight champion, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The winner of this fight will be the mandatory challenger Canelo and that fight may take place in May of next year. What are the keys for each fighter in this essential bout?
Keys To Victory for David Benavidez
Start Fast
Benavidez started slow against Caleb Plant in his last bout. He didn’t throw more than 40 punches in a round until the sixth round. Plant won at least three of the first five rounds on all of the scorecards. If Benavidez starts this slowly against Andrade he may not be able to dominate the second half of the fight in the same way. The Phoenix native can’t get too comfortable with his ability to turn it on cause Andrade may make it impossible to find the switch.
Use The Jab
Demetrius Andrade is hard to hit. Andrade was able to avoid 88% of Demond Nicholson’s punches in his last bout. Benavidez has to throw lots of punches and not get frustrated when those punches don’t land.
One way to make sure those power punches are able to land is to set them up with his jab. In his bout against Plant, Benavidez threw a total of 132 jabs. Benavidez should look to increase that number in a major way to make it harder for Andrade to see the power punches that follow.
Keep That Right Hand Up
Andrade is a southpaw with a sneaky left hook. Benavidez has to keep his right hand up and cannot get hit by Andrade’s looping left hand.
Demetrius Andrade made quick work of Jason Quigley. Here's the action & finish from ringside 🎥#AndradeQuigley pic.twitter.com/uwm6nKn4JB
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 20, 2021
Andrade was able to make quick work of Jason Quigley and it started with his looping left hook. Andrade is one of the few boxers who can throw looping punches with accuracy. Benavidez has to be aware of that left hook at all times.
Keys to Victory for Demetrius Andrade
Start Fast
David Benavidez is a slow starter and Andrade has to take full advantage of that. Andrade needs to come out and win every round where Benavidez is “downloading data”. Benavidez is really good at taking mental notes over the first few rounds and then dominating the second half of the fight against opponents who he can’t walk down from the beginning.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Andrade has to gain respect early in this fight from Benavidez. Benavidez likes to walk down his opponents and increase his punch output as the fight goes along. He has been able to either knockout his opponents or drown his opponents with his workload late in fights for his entire career. Andrade has give Benavidez a reason to hesitate.
Body Work / Smart Movement
Benavidez likes to walk forward behind a his guard and make his opponents back up until they are in a position where he can upload his quick combinations.
#BenavidezAndrade David Benavidez Speed🥊#MexicanMonster pic.twitter.com/rpwlmR7icP
— Gato_MMA (@Gato_MMA) November 24, 2023
Andrade has stay off of the ropes. He can’t find himself planted where he can’t move out of the way because Benavidez will unleash a massive amount of punches with power anytime he gets the chance.
One way to slow down the punch combinations of Benavidez is to land body shots on a consistent basis throughout the fight. A constant body attack could be what helps Andrade pull off the upset.
Prediction
This should be a very entertaining fight from both a tactical and entertainment standpoint. This is a match-up of two veteran boxers who know there way around the ring and can adjust to any style. The first few rounds may not be action packed as there is a mutual respect for each other’s abilities.
As the fight goes on Benavidez will most likely increase his punch output and try to wear down Andrade. Andrade will make himself a hard target to hit. Andrade will make this an interesting bout but at age 35 he won’t have that extra gear that is needed to keep Benavidez off of him and Benavidez will win by unanimous decision in a hard fought bout.
