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Mosley Jr.: Youth on Benavidez’s Side in Potential Canelo Fight

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Image: Benavidez's Unimpressive Debut at 175 Raises Red Flags

Middleweight title contender Shane Mosley Jr. believes adolescent fighter David Benavidez’s upside will allow him to beat Canelo Alvarez if the two fight this year.

The 27-year-old Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is seven years younger than the 34-year-old Canelo Alvarez and has yet to have such tough fights as he has against fighters such as Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Jaime Munguia, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Dmitry Bivol and Sergey Kovalev.

Benaviez’s resume is tender in comparison, and that’s one reason he’s been criticized so much. He had an straightforward ride to the top, with only one notable name on his main roster, Caleb Plant, and Canelo has already knocked him out.

Considering how huge Benavidez is, he can’t be called a true super middleweight, as he drops from delicate heavyweight to 168 pounds, allowing him to compete with smaller fighters.

Benavidez: Up-to-date-day Chavez Jr.?

You could argue that Benavidez is a weight bully, and has been throughout his career. He is doing what Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. did earlier in his career, dropping massive amounts of weight to compete at 154 and 160 and winning fights against high-profile opponents.

Benavidez is this era’s version of Chavez Jr., with the way he retreats to take advantage of smaller opposition in a weight class he shouldn’t be fighting in because of his huge delicate heavyweight frame. What Benavidez is doing is the same thing Chavez Jr. did.

Younger fans who didn’t follow the sport years ago aren’t aware of Chavez Jr.’s success back then. They only know him for who he became later in his career when he couldn’t break down enough to compete at 154 and 160.

He was a completely different fighter in the early days, when he had a huge advantage over his junior middleweight and middleweight opponents. He did what Benavidez does now, fighting well below his weight class.

The Early Success and Fall of Chavez Jr.

Chavez Jr. found great success by gradually dropping down in weight to compete in those weight classes, defeating many top contenders and winning the middleweight world title in 2011. However, when he was no longer able to make 160 pounds, his career took a nosedive.

During Chavez Jr.’s heyday, from 2008 to 2014, he defeated the following quality fighters:

-Andy Lee
-Brian Vera
– Sebastian Żbik
-Marco Antonio Rubio
-John Duddy
-Peter Manfredo Jr.

I believe the same thing will happen to David Benavidez when he is forced to fight at 175 permanently. We have already seen the problems Benavidez will have at delicate heavyweight in his debut against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.

Benavidez had a challenging time getting the better of Gvozdyk, and the fight was much more evenly matched than the one-sided scores of the three judges. The fight showed that Benavidez is the next Chavez Jr., and his career will take a downward turn when he can no longer drop down to 168.

“I fought him a few years ago and he’s become a great fighter since then,” Shane Mosley Jr. said. Professional boxing fansspeaking of Canelo Alvarez. “He did it all. He had a legendary and probably one of the best careers in boxing.

“He’s fought everybody. He’s done everything he needs to do. He doesn’t necessarily have to fight a guy like David Benavidez. David Benavidez has to fight him. But obviously, as long as he’s in the game, everybody’s going to point to that name and point to that fight for him because they want to see the best fight the best.”

Canelo is not a delicate heavyweight and that is a problem he would have against Benavidez because the guy does not fit into the 168-pound weight class.

If there was a 10-pound rehydration clause, I don’t think he would have made weight for the second weigh-in. Benavidez could have gone down to 168, but he probably couldn’t have stopped rehydrating to 180 or 190. You don’t expect Canelo to fight someone that huge in a super middleweight fight. No one should.

“I think it’s a great fight. I’d like to see it happen. I don’t think it necessarily has to happen, but I’d like to see it happen,” Mosley Jr. said. “I think David Benavidez might be a little too adolescent, as far as I think he has the advantage of youth,” Mosley Jr. said of his belief that Benavidez would be too fresh for Canelo.

If Canelo fought at delicate heavyweight and rehydrated to 190, the Benavidez fight would be no problem, but that is not the case here. Benavidez should fight at his natural 175 weight class and focus on fighting killers like Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol instead of fighting at 168.

“He’s got a fresher body. They’re both explosive. They both throw good combinations. They’re both veterans, but because of the youth, I think Benavidez might be a little too adolescent and fresh for him,” Shane Jr. said.

Benavidez is fresh at 168, but at 175 he is an average fighter and I think he will have a problem when he is no longer able to maintain weight at 168. I think Benavidez will maintain weight at 168 as long as he can because he knows it is the end of the road when he is forced to fight at 175.

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Tyson’s conqueror, Danny Williams, was “never considered” for Morrison

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Kenzie Morrison Danny Williams

World Boxing News has learned that Danny Williams was never considered for a fight against Tommy Morrison’s son Kenzie on November 9.

WBN has learned from a source that Williams was scheduled to face Morrison next month when he returns to action at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. However, promoter Tony Holden confirmed what WBN initially reported, namely that Williams had been offered for the fight.

BoxRec also briefly placed Williams within Morrison’s record on November 9, before removing the former British champion. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, but has since lived off his victory despite losing his British license more than a decade ago.

Holden, who represents Morrison and is looking for an opponent for the competition in three weeks, explained the situation exclusively to WBN.

“I never confirmed William’s story and I never considered him,” Holden said. “I said no when a local promoter suggested it.”

Williams, 51, last fought in August 202, losing for the 33rd time in his career. With 88 professional fights under his belt, Williams seems unable to turn down a payday despite his advanced age.

Morrison, a power puncher who has stopped 19 of his 21 wins, will look for his next conquest elsewhere. The fight with Mike Balogun remains on the table for 2025 after it was postponed from its original October date.

Balogun, who knocked out Kenzi’s brother Trey in the first round, claimed Morrison was pulled from the fight to spare him the loss.

Holden denies this view.

“Even though this post isn’t up to my standards, I’m going to write it anyway. Mike Balogun falsely claimed that I pulled Kenzie Morrison out of the fight because I was afraid he would lose. Please allow me to correct you, Mr. Balogun,” he stated.

“The decision was not made by Kenzie. Let’s raise the stakes and make it fascinating. If you emerge victorious this month, Kenzie will fight in November.

“We may decide this early next year. If your confidence remains unshaken, we can place a significant bet. Watch Kenzie take revenge on her brother and end your career.

Balogun, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, responded to Holden by increasing his salary for a potential collision next year.

“No matter how fair and honorable your decision was, just remember that ‘yesterday’s price is not today’s price,’” said the 2010 undrafted pick.

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Andrew Moloney is confident that if given the chance, he would have beaten Phumelele Cafu and Kosei Tanaka

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Andrew Moloney (left) attacks Pedro Guevara – photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.

The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.

Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.

“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.

“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.

“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.

I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.

Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.

This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.

Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.

It was a breakthrough moment in his career.

“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.

“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.

“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.

“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.

“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.

“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.

“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”

Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.

“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.

“We have also rejected for some time the idea of ​​moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”

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Doubts that fuel 19-year-old Benjamin Johnson

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Despite an impressive amateur resume, welterweight Benjamin Johnson of Springdale, Maryland, enters the professional ring with a shoulder injury.

Johnson will face Kevin Pantoja in a four-round fight at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, promoted by his trainer Lamont Roach Snr’s NoXcuses Promotions. The fight will be broadcast on Saturday on ProBox TV.

Johnson, 1-0 (1 KO), spent just 2:23 in the ring in his professional debut, displaying the quick, aggressive hands that won him multiple national titles. However, 19-year-old Johnson feels an advantage, believing he is being overlooked by his NoXcuses Boxing Gym teammates.

Pantoja, 1-1, 27, has never stopped being a professional – Johnson aims to change that.

“People underestimate me,” Johnson said. “It’s been like that since I was an amateur.”

He added that this underestimation increases his motivation in the gym. Johnson is determined to prove his worth not only to himself, but also to those who doubt him or, worse, don’t recognize him. “I never felt like I was recognized as that guy, so I feel like I’m underappreciated,” Johnson said of his amateur and now professional career.

Johnson sees the fight as a key step in his career, compared to feared forward David Benavidez by some teammates and touted by others as one of the most ready-to-fight prospects in the country.

“I train as much as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s about making a statement. The way you win shows people what you’re capable of, and I’m ready to show my best.

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