Boxing
Bneavidez vs. Gvozdyk: Benavidez promises to steal the show with KO!
David Benavidez is expected to steal the show in the main event, knocking out his opponent Oleksandr Gvozdyk in their headliner in tonight’s WBC interim lithe heavyweight title clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
While Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO) respects Gvozdyk’s talent and achievements in his amateur and professional careers, he feels he is destined to win, look great and steal the thunder of Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs. Frank Martin’s Head.
With Tank-Martin expected to be a decisive win for Tank, there’s a good chance Benavidez can make the performance of the night if his strength moves up to the 175-pound division against Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KO), who is a better boxer than him.
Benavidez has the advantage of work rate, speed and youth over 37-year-old former WBC lithe heavyweight champion Gwozdyk.
“I trained very well for Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He was a decorated amateur and has a medal in the Olympics. He is a man with great talent,” said David Benavidez First attempt. “I trained for four months in the training camp for this fight. I want to steal the show and knock out Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Promise to steal the show
“I’m going to go in there and steal the show. I will go in there and knock out Oleksandr Gvozdyk,” Benavidez said.
Benavidez, 27, should avoid trying to make too much of an impact in this fight, as Gvozdyk could explode with powerful combinations and end the fight quickly.
We saw him do this against Adonis Stevenson and he has looked perilous in his last two fights, scoring early knockouts.
“I don’t think David’s punching power will be a problem. I don’t think David’s pressure will be a problem,” said super middleweight Lionell “Lonnie B” Thompson Fight about the belief that Gwozdyk will defeat Benavidez.
Benavidez is ‘better protected’
“I don’t think David’s skills will be a problem. I think he has a lot more skills than David. I just think David was better protected. From what I saw from both fighters in their fights, I think he beat David.”
Gvozdyk actually has better skills than Benavidez, and he has been trained by the best since his amateur days in Ukraine. Benavidez could get away with exploiting his size and volume. He didn’t need to develop his technical skills because he was much bigger than his 168-pound opponent and he was facing weaker opponents.
As Lonnie B notes, Benavidez was “protected” by his management better than Gvozdyk.
By this he means that Benavidez did not intentionally compete against the likes of David Lemieux, Demetrius Andrade and Caleb Plant, instead fighting against talented opponents like David Morrell, Artur Beterbiev, Jai Opetaia and Dmitry Bivol. Benavidez is likely a marketing figment, like many fighters who have been spoon-fed fight wins to turn them into fraudulent stars.
Boxing is a business, and it is the job of promoters to create fighters who will represent a specific demographic. It would facilitate if a fighter could become a crossover star like Oscar De La Hoya, but he had real talent and was the best fighter of his entire career.
Benavidez is a fighter who has fought outside of his natural weight class, at lithe heavyweight, and has fought fighters who can be beaten to make himself look better than he actually is.
“David is used to fighting oversized guys at 154 and 160 pounds and he’s comfortable fighting,” said Lonnie B. “He’s so gigantic and towering. These guys he’s fighting are my height and smaller than me. He’s gotten used to being comfortable with guys right-handed. “You’ll be tired, you’re too tiny.”
Benavidez had a size advantage over everyone he had fought in his career, and it was captivating to see him finally face someone as gigantic as him. He looked intimidated looking at Gwozdyk on Friday. You could see it in Benavidez’s eyes as he thought, “Man, I could lose this fight.”
Gwozdyk’s power
“Now he’s fighting someone his size, gigantic and can punch. He’s going to have to put in some work,” said Lonnie B. “He’s going to have to come out of his shell and fight. It’s here, with his defense. He’ll have to do something else.”
Benavidez always leads his opponents behind a high guard and throws a straight right followed by a left hook. He will then launch a rapid-fire combo that will work against the opposition his management has fed him time and time again.
“Gwozdyk can punch and is gigantic enough to fend off David. He’s faced guys who can punch better than David, and he’s fought guys who are much better than him. Do you think Benavidez hits harder than Adonis Stevenson? Do you think Benavidez hits harder than Beterbiev?” said Lonnie B.
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