In a clash between former world champions, David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) spectacularly stopped David Lemieux (43-5, 36 KOs) in round three to claim the WBC interim super middleweight title on Saturday night at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Benavidez almost got Lemieux out of there in the first round, but the bell saved Lemieux. Benavidez dropped Lemieux in round two. Lemieux got up and fought back bravely although Benavidez continued to punish him. The bout was finally stopped by Lemieux’s corner after he took more shots in round three. Time was 1:31.
When the names of Canelo, Charlo, Morrell, and Plant were mentioned as possible opponents, Benavidez stated “I’m waiting for them to sign the contract. Them bitches know what’s up. I’m right here waiting for them. I ain’t scared of nobody. I’m the youngest guy, three-time champion in the 168lb division. I’ll put myself against anybody and I guarantee you I’ll knock everybody out!”
That was merciful. Lemieuxs aversion to avoiding punches will get him maimed at 168. Looked like a Middleweight fighting a Cruiserweight
Benavidez was much bigger.
Bivol was much bigger than Canelo ,so what?
Don’t you think Bivol’s size advantage over Canelo was a factor in how that fight turned out? Same here. Lemieux was game and threw some hard shots that didn’t slow or damage Benavidez.
Size had nothing to do with it. Bivol was more skilled than Canelo. Canelo lost to Floyd who was naturally smaller. So what does size have to do with it? Benavidez was the better fighter.
Size has alot to do with it. Canelo is not a boxer like mayweather. Their different styles. Canelo had to put more ummphh in his punches from the start hence his muscles dying out later in the rounds. Thats when bivol took over and walked thru his punches. Skill level canelo, canelo is better but jus cldnt handle the size
Every factor from size to offensive technique to defensive technique and so on has something to do with fight outcomes.
I think his point was Benavidez being much bigger than Limieux may have been a factor in the outcome. And Bivol, as you wrote, being bigger than Canelo may have been a factor in that outcome as well. So what is your point?
Darin Kasaboski: Yep, Benavidez so much bigger, Lemieux actually just looked far to small and even looked flabby, out of shape compared to years ago.
How was this fight sanctioned?
Money.
Canelo not going to have fun with Benavidez’s power and work rate. Benavidez vs Bivol might be better fight to watch at 175.
Benavidez has been a LHW for quite some time already. He chooses to weight dran himself to give himself a fair shot. If he fought the Bivols a d Beterbievs or even a rugged Joe smith jr, he ppwer is average, thus why he avoids that division like the plague
Benavidez has some flaws in his defense where he leaves himself open at times and his head is sitting straight up. However, his high work rate and power equalizes that flaw with his opponents. Yes, Tony, I agree, Benavidez will have some challenges moving higher in weight fighting heavier handed punchers. In addition, I do admire Benavidez’s self-assessment of his performance against Lemieux. Yes, there is always room to improve.
I’d love to see Benevidez vs Joe Smith JR! Really Benevidez vs anybody is worth watching. Size does matter though and he’s never been hit by a puncher like Smith. He’d have to bring all of his tools in that matchup.
As for David Lemieux: he’s still a solid guy, but I feel he should move back down if possible. Btw, he’s another guy I’ll always tune in for. I felt he was overmatched against Benevidez, but still had to see it. Lemieux’s heart and will were on full display. Thank God his corner saved him, because his power had no effect on Benevidez.
Bivol will expose Benavidez
such a mis-match
step it up
I doubt that Canelo could beat a David Lemieux bur definitely will NOT beat a Benavidez!
Canelo beats Lemieux. Benavidez is a very tough one.
You really do not know boxing, as this is the most naive comment I have heard. Lemiuex has no chin and you think Canelo wouldn’t beat him! You are out of your mind! U do know that Lemiuex has lost been knocked out by GGG, who couldn’t knock out Canelo! SMH!
Thank you for sharing your great boxing wisdom with us!!!!!!!
Your welcome, as some of you can use the wisdom!
And what makes you an authority on the fight game?
Makes me an authority as I don’t make naive comments based on fruitless opinions!
Your overconfidence is a bit naive!!!
wow…your comeback was naive….lol
As I commented earlier when this fight was announced, Lemiuex had no business fighting at this weight, as he is a blown up middleweight and Benavidez is a shrunken light heavyweight. Thank goodness he was not seriously injured! This fight should’ve been stopped after the second round, as Lemiuex never recovered from the first round. A complete and total mismatch…smh.
Lemieux
That was a suicide mission fight for lemiux!!!! He needs to call it a day, enjoy his earnings with his family and retire! Terrible mismatch with an expected brutal result.
Insane performance by Lemieux. He lost but, man, that was an intense fight while it lasted
It was a good firefight while it lasted. Lemieux was still throwing powerful shots till the end; he just couldn’t avoid the Benavidez arsenal. Call it what you want, but this fight was so much more entertaining than Mikey Garcia’s standing tank job against Errol Spence!
OOOOHHH…OOOHHHH…the boxing world must now ROAR for a Canelo vs. Benavidez scrap, in Texas!!! I can’t wait to hear what Canelo says because I am unable to think of any other fighter who can deal with Benavidez.
It is possible Zach Parker wants Benavidez’s heat, but after Parker losses by TKO or KO to Benavidez, Canelo will have NO CHOICE but to fight Benavidez at 168 (a Texas scrap).
Tyson calls Benavidez, “The Mexican Monster.” I love that boxing name for Benavidez. I hope Benavidez keeps it simple and maintains his weight.
Bivol / Benevedes anyone?
Man, that counter left hook near the end of round 1 by Benavidez was a peach. It pretty much ended Lemieux. Canelo is right to steer clear of Benavidez because he has no footwork to get out the way. Benavidez can pick his shots and then explode when he needs to. I think Bivol and Benavidez would be an entertaining purists fight that would truly be 50/50. Benavidez KO’s Charlo is 6-7, and I’m giving no 168lb’er a solid chance against this killer.
DB is in his prime taking the sport very seriously now.
Benavidez looked like a killer because of the huge difference in size, it was similar as Jaime Munguia vs Sadam Ali. Not really impressed about his punching power because how many times he hit Lemieux cleanly , and the man was there responding.
One thing is for sure, Benavidez is not gonna be a 168 for much longer and one guy that could test him is Gilbero “Zurdo” Ramirez, of course I would love to see him fighting Canelo, but that is not around the corner.
GGG hit Lemieux cleanly in their fight a lot more and the french-canadian was still responding, and nobody thinks GGG doesn’t have sledgehammer power. I am really tired of hearing about Zurdo. Benavidez’ size difference was less noticeable over Lemieux than Ramirez size difference was over the German bum he just took longer to beat. I honestly want to see Gilberto take on Callum Smith now that the brit is not weight drained at 168. Callum genuinely hits hard enough that he can knock out a lot of cruiserweights, and Zurdo is so slow and hittable it’s not even funny. That’s a 50/50 fight to be honest, and Benavidez is a higher class than the protected Ramirez.
Well, I was wayyyy off on the round. I called 9th round too, ref stoppage and instead it was 3 via corner. Benavides looked great, even if it was against Lemiux. A performance like that can only make the rest of 168 and the surrounding weights running for the hills.
I highly doubt that any of the fighters mentioned after the fight will be standing on line to sign a contract. Charlo won’t come up and Canelo ain’t doing it as there is too much of a marketability risk after losing to Bivol. A grudge match with Plant might be a far reach. If nothing comes through, I see a big fight with Ramirez at Lt heavy second quarter next year.
And who didn’t see that coming?
Great but expected victory for Benavidez. I knew Lemieux would be a sitting duck for Benavidez. Canelo would be too. The Canelo who throws one punch at a time as hard as he can will have all he can handle with the quick handed and hard hitting Benavidez. Benavidez can fight at a fast pace all night while Canelo gets fatigued at that pace.
Triple G kept Lemieux at the end of his jab and didn’t allow Lemieux to get close enough to do some damage. Benavidez kept Lemieux at the end of his shots, hit him with every punch in the book, and got rid of him in record time.
I just don’t see anyone at 168 lbs beating Benavidez, including Canelo. I’d be surprised if Canelo agrees to fight him because Benavidez is a great bet to hand Canelo his third loss. I really would like to see that fight.
As for Zurdo, he’s tall and long but not very fast. And he’s at light heavyweight now, so there’s no going back down for him. Benavidez came in at 166 lbs, so it’s clear he can make the super middleweight limit without issue.
I’d like Benavidez to stay at super middleweight and clean up that division before moving up. At the age of 25, his future is bright. I see a maturity and focus in him now that he has a family to provide stability in his life.
Benavidez did not appear to be drained by the weight cut at all. Maybe it makes a difference if someone can take him into the later rounds.
I think that Benavidez is all wrong for Canelo but, it’s a fight it’s love to see!!!
I’d!
The WBC interim title is silly.
Big fan of David B, but let’s face it David L, is a washed up fighter. I think everyone seen this coming
No one else is signing up to fight him. Everyone wants that Canelo payday and won’t risk losing that by facing David B.
It was a good thing Lemieuxs corner stopped the fight. I like watching Lemieux fights, he may not be the best but he makes for action packed fights and let’s his fists fly until it’s over one way or the other.
I think they should redo the P4P ratings from how great the boxer is to how violent and action packed they are.
Who has a good top 10 violent wrecking machine list?
1) Beterbiev
2) Wilder
3) Canelo
4) Ennis
5) Benavidez
6) Tank Davis
7) GGG
8) Joe Smith
9) Monster Inoue
10) Joshua
I would say Junto Nakatani should be in this list
We definitely know Canelo won’t be fight Benevidez now. I guess he’ll have to go and beat up a 41 year old GGG. Where else is he gonna go? Perhaps he can pull a Caesar Chavez and fight a string of tomato can who is making their pro debuts.
Do you think Mayweather, Camacho and Rosario were tomato cans, you must be delusional.
I HOPE he was talking about Chavez Jr…..
Canelo has lost his speed by bulking up through weightlifting. How asinine! Thus, he can only throw a few thudding shots at a time. Is Canelo’s team too stupid to see that bulking up with weights has ruined their fighter? Canelo the weightlifter loses to Benavidez the boxer!
The late great trainer Angelo Dundee once said: “Anyone trying to bring a set of barbells into my gym is gonna take a Louisville Slugger to the head!”
Thank you for sharing that comment. He was so sharp in that corner. Angelo helped make boxing special.
benevidez and triple g next i believe benevidez could go to light heavy at 175
Enough already!! Cmon boxing promoters, managers, advisors and power brokers…..Let’s get this thing popping now! Benavidez, Plant, Andrade and Charlo!!!! Let’s get these matches going before it’s too late. Otherwise we’re gonna spend years talking about what if’s!!!
Instead of giving Bivol his due and holding him up as p4p yada..we get this. Hey, Rubio knocked out LeMeuix. Rubio. If Canola had been knocked out by Rubio and GGG then fought Bivol and lost, that would have been actually nothing. Calling Benevedes God because he knocked out a one punch fighter (hook), is stupid. Bivol’s victory was and is 100 times the effort as this, but Benevedes is a big mouth so it is what it is.
Who gives a shit ? Keep fighting lower tier fighters or burned out former world champs we fans aren’t giving you any credit for that..
Benavidez was very impressive, SO impressive that I feel that no one in his division can beat him. Not only is he big and powerful but what impressed me the most about his talents and skills was his speed. His jab was hurting Lemieux and Lemieux is a very seasoned veteran. Benavidez will rule for an extremely long time. Canelo would lose to this guy even if they fought at a catch weight.
Lemieux became a world champion back in 2015 and lost to Golovkin the same year. He has since challenged several times for a title but has come up short each time. He never got untracked in this fight and took too many heavy shots. It is time for him to seriously consider retirement.
Being that Benavidez obviously hydrates to Cruiser, if he really wants to make a name for himself, he needs to finally move up and challenelge beterbiev next. Why is he talking crap about a Charlo when he is only at 160. Thats jus plain dumb. That wld literally be a 2 weight jump for him. Time to call out Bivol or Beterbiev. That, i wld pay to see
Who do you expect him to fight? No one wants to fight him. All I hear are excuses. You can only fight the people in front of you. He seems eager to fight anyone. Don’t see anyone eager to fight him besides Morrell. But Morrell is a very solid prospect, but need al lot more seasoning.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a fighter eat so many brutal shots and continue to come forward attempting (uneffectively) to launch his own attack. There was no retreat, no plan B. Lemieux was clearly overmatched no matter how you slice it, but I can’t help but think he could have had much more success, or at least taken less shots, had he employed more of a stick and move style. It’s like his brain receptors were not getting the message that he was taking a tremedous amount of punishment and should try something different. That fight was a very clear indication that David Lemieux should retire. The best he could hope for is to earn decent paydays against guys like Berlanga or Morrell so they can have the scalp of a hard hitting ex champion under their belts.
Now, for the 3rd time that David Benavidez is the number one WBC super middleweight contender/ interim champion; will Canelo avoid him again? Mexican fans/ bias Hispanic commentators are so afraid of this fight. They are afraid to say Benavidez vs Canelo. Charlo is middleweight and Plant has no belt. They keep yelling Benavidez vs Charlo or Plant. Benavidez should petition the WBC ( we be cheating) organization to get his shot at stopping Canelo. The WBO organization is already trying to strip little Charlo if he doesn’t negotiate with his mandatory. Canelo hasn’t been mandated to fight not one mandatory contender since having any of those super middleweight titles. Give Benavidez his shot and watch him hit ducknelo more than he’s ever been hit. Duck season is over, let’s get it on , Benavidez vs Canelo September 2022, but don’t be surprised if ducknelo, better known as Canelo; vacate the belt to avoid him again, just my opinion
Canelo had to fight Yildrim
Seek advice from GGG, he understands being avoided.
GGG was only avoided in his own mind. He was called out multiple times by Andrade and Charlo but ignored the calls. He challenged the weakest champ in the division being Murata. No one has avoided GGG since he fought Jacobs
I give Lemieux credit just like Benavidez said best “Lemieux had the balls to sign the contract”. I was expecting Lemieux to at least last 6-8rds and even test Benavidez chin maybe once or twice. That 1st Round counter hook was perfect and really changed dramatically how the whole rest of the fight would play out. Given the PBC dilemma, I see Benavidez vs Plant as the most likely match to realize next.
I said the exact thing before the fight, I knew it would be one way traffic for Benavidez, but I didn’t think it would be quite so one sided. I too thought Lemieux would have his moments, and he kinda did, but I thought he would last 6, or 7 rounds. I actually thought Lemieux was winning the first two thirds of the first round until Benavidez landed that hook and went Porky Medina on him
Would like to see Benavides vs GGG, everyone wants Canelo and the big payday instead of the glory of fighting and beating the best as Mike Tyson did throughout his career.
I can tell you’re a Ducknelo fan. Canelo ducked Demetrius & Charlo. He gave up the belts at 154 & 160 to avoid those fighters. Benavidez is now the interim CHAMPION. Nobody wants to see an old triple GGG, we want duck Canelo. The chicken will vacate the WBC title to avoid Benavidez. David Morrell is waiting in the WBA, the walls are closing in. He’s running out of options, he eventually gonna have to get his behind knockout by one or the other. Canelo is a duck/overrated
Bro, get off the Charlo hype train. Seeiously, nobody is afraid to fight Charlo. Andrade MAYBE but not Charlo. Both Jacobs and Andrade called out Charlo and crickets from that waste of a “Champion”
Didn’t Bivol say he will meet Canelo at 168 for the rematch and all the titles – see if he goes for that.
Ggg way too small and too old
When I see DL I just thought he looked like a build-up middleweight and I didn’t like the way he looked I knew the fight wouldn’t last too long
If they were to fight each other in a couple months, Benavidez could display his boxing skills by throwing hard punches in bunches, whereas Canelo can show off his weightlifting results by picking up Benavidez & carrying him around the ring like he literally did with Bivol.
Canelo the boxer no longer exists. All we have left is a ginger Mexican weightlifter!
In other news
Ducknelo has agreed to fight washed up 41yr old GGG in September. What a duck, Benavidez is the number one contender again. All ducknelo sycophants are scared out of their minds , just like ducknelo to give Benavidez his shot. Canelo eventually is gonna have to face Benavidez or give up the belt , which he will vacate the belt unless (WBC) we be cheating ; make up some new rule to protect this overrated duck of the decade. He avoided Demetrius, Jermall now DAVID ‘’The Monster” Benavidez. What a duck