David Benavidez

Anthony David Benavidez (born December 17, 1996) is an American professional boxer.

Benavidez won the NABF Junior light heavyweight title, his first belt, against Rollin Williams in April 2015.

At the end of 2015, Benavidez had a record of 12 wins, with 11 stoppages and no losses.

In October 2015, Benavidez signed a promotional deal with Sampson Lewkowicz's Sampson Boxing.

In July 2015, PBC announced Benavidez would next fight on ESPN against contender Denis Douglin (20-4, 13 KOs) in his first 10-round bout on August 5 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Benavidez was taken to the tenth round but avoided hearing the final bell after stopping Douglin 35 seconds into the round.

Benavidez simply broke down Douglin over the course of the fight.

The referee stopped the fight as Douglin had taken punishment against the ropes.

On January 7, 2016, it was announced that Benavidez would start the year against Kevin Cobbs (10–1, 4 KOs) on a Fox Sports 1 edition of PBC Toe-To-Toe Tuesdays on January 18 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

Prior to the fight, Cobbs was on a 4-fight win streak.

Benavidez started the contest quickly and kept Cobbs at a distance.

He rocked Cobbs in round 2 on two occasions.

After a few clinches, Benavidez hit Cobbs with a flurry of punches, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 1:08 of round 2.

Benavidez next fought on April 30 on the undercard of Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto II at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

His opponent was Phillip Jackson Benson.

Jackson was stopped in round 2 after being hurt many times in the opening round.

The fight was scheduled for 8 rounds.

Benavidez would next take part on the undercard of the welterweight world title bout Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter, which was rescheduled to take place on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, against Francy Ntetu (16–0, 3 KOs) in an 8-round bout.

In an entertaining fight, where both boxers traded, Benavidez won the fight via round 7 TKO.

Benavidez seemed to get the better of the trades with Ntetu resorting to clinching by the end of round 2.

After 1 minute and 30 seconds of round 7, the crowd booed as referee Shada Murdaugh stopped the fight due to the amount of punishment Ntetu had taken.

It was noted that Barry Jordan, a NYSAC doctor, had taken a look at Ntetu and likely would have played a role.

Benavidez led 58–56, 58–56 and 59–55 on the judges scorecards at the time of stoppage.

Jordon later explained that it was upon his recommendation that the bout be stopped as Ntetu had taken a lot of punishment, mostly to the eye.

He is a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title from 2017 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2020.

Claiming his first belt at 20 years, eight months, three weeks and one day old, Benavidez holds the record as the youngest super middleweight title holder in history.

He is ranked second by The Ring, second by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fourth by BoxRec.

David was born to a Mexican father and an Ecuadorian mother.

His older brother, José Benavidez Jr., is also a professional boxer who held the WBA Welterweight title.

Both brothers are trained by their father.

When he was 15, Benavidez's weight ballooned to 250 pounds, as he struggled with dieting and discipline.

Benavidez, who started boxing at the age of three, had an amateur record of 15–0.

Benavidez also known as the Mexican monster made his pro debut at the age of 16, defeating Erasmo Moreno by knockout in one round in Puerto Peñasco.

Benavidez's first bout of 2017 took place on January 28 on the Carl Frampton vs. Léo Santa Cruz II undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, against fellow prospect Sherali Mamajonov (14–1, 7 KOs).

Benavidez started the fight cautiously before unloading heavy shots that dropped Mamajonov before the end of round 1.

At the start of round 2, Benavidez continued to land flash combinations and eventually dropped Mamajanov again.

He beat the count, but referee Russell Mora stopped the fight because he appeared to be badly hurt.

Benavidez spoke about the win after the fight, "I am a little disappointed because I wanted to give the crowd a spectacular knockout. This is my first time fighting at MGM Grand and I will never forget it. The atmosphere here is amazing. This fight week has been the best experience of my life. I want to continue to fight as much as I can. I want to perfect my craft, train as hard as I can and be the best that I can be."

On March 24, 2017, it was announced that WBC agreed to sanction Benavidez against former world title challenger Rogelio Medina (37–7, 31 KOs) for the #2 mandatory spot on May 20 at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.

Benavidez knocked down Medina three times before the referee waved the fight off in round 8, giving Benavidez the win.