Introducing Jose Benavidez Jr.
by Brickhaus on Jan 18, 2010 4:36 PM EST
in Boxing Prospects
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PrintOn Saturday night, Top Rank's newest blue chip prospect, Jose Benavidez Jr., made his professional debut. Those of you who were able to watch the debut of Top Rank's new boxing show saw a 17-year old kid, skinny as imaginable, take out a hapless opponent with one punch. Benavidez tracked down his prey, and shot off a show jab, followed up by a hard right hand that broke his opponent's nose, from which the hand-picked opponent never recovered.
While there are a hundred questions that need to get answered about any blue chip prospect who is just starting out - does he have the heart, can he build the stamina, does he have a decent chin, is he willing to put in the work - it seems that Benavidez has the tools to make some serious noise if the intangibles are there. He's a rail thin 6'0" with a 74" reach, both of which are well above average for a junior welterweight. In an interview, co-trainer Freddie Roach said he thinks that Benavidez will eventually end up at light middleweight or middleweight once his body fills out. In the meantime, he towers over most light welterweight fighters, and if he can learn to use that reach, he'll have a major advantage.
In addition to his size, he shows very good handspeed for someone with such long arms. He also has a good understanding of both work ethic and fundamentals. His father, Jose Benavidez Sr., is a trainer in the Phoenix area, and has been training Benavidez since he was six years old. This upbringing has led to an almost innate grounding in the sport that you rarely see in fighters other than those who were raised in the sport. Finally, it seems like the production may be there as well. He won the national golden gloves tournament at the age of 16, becoming the youngest ever national champion at the weight. Since Roach agreed to take on Benavidez, he's been sparring some of the other fighters at Wild Card, and Freddie's on the record as both saying that Benavidez is his best prospect (which presumably includes guys like Guillermo Rigondeaux and Vanes Martirosyan) and that Benavidez sparred "dead even" with Amir Khan.
In case you're interested, here's a fulffy (but well produced) promo piece on Benavidez from before he turned pro.
If you're interested in more background, Elie Seckbach interviewed Benavidez, his father and Freddie Roach a couple months ago, which interview is available here.
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This kid versus an older Paul Williams at 154/160 in couple of years should be an amazing matchup. This kid has the physical assets and I’m sure that Freddie will mold him into the real deal. I’m guessing that Arum is going to start featuring this kid on the undercard of the Latin Fury PPVs or other smaller PPVs. I’m all for it since this guy is a lot better than being subjected to JCC jr…
Here's a link to the debut fight
which is now up on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFwIPhY2qkY
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
He sems like a really nice guy
and it is interesting that Roach decided to skip on the Olympics and go into the pros early. I wonder how he’s going to be advanced. Hopefully not the Top Rank approach of incrimentally slow advances in challenge level!
Is he signed with anyone?
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
I think the Top Rank approach is the best there is. It leads to the largest number of good fights over the course of a fighter’s career, which is more important to me than having the good fights come as soon as possible, if that makes sense.
I just think that the step ups are too small
Especially when they are dull and put on undercards instead of quality fights. I would actually much rather see someone with this kind of talent be pushed and turn out good or even great fights.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 19, 2010 10:07 AM EST up reply actions
We should probably make this more concrete. I’m thinking mostly of the Cotto career path, which I think was perfectly handled.
A more problematic example would be someone like Chavez Jr., but I think Top Rank probably handles him that way because they (like the rest of the boxing world) don’t see Chavez as being an actual prospect at all.
For the most part, their plan has generally been to develop prospects with the ultimate goal of having them fighting world class competition when they get to age 25 or 26. I think that’s a good approach. You have guys fighting their best fights when they’re at their peaks. I think this also tends to be good for a fighter’s longevity. I’m willing to wait a few more years for a fighter to develop if it means he’ll be able to enjoy a longer prime. In the long run, I’ll get to see more good fights that way. Not many guys who fight world class competition at age 22 get to enjoy long or even average-length primes.
That's a good point
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 19, 2010 10:57 AM EST up reply actions
Agreed
When I think of the Top Rank career progression, I’m thinking more like Miguel Cotto, Kelly Pavlik or Juan Manuel Lopez (or going back further, Oscar de la Hoya or Floyd Mayweather). Those guys were all developed at about the right pace, I think. The issue has been actually scheduling tough fights for them once they get to the top, in the case of Pavlik and Lopez.
Chavez Jr. is just someone they’re milking for his name recognition as long as they can.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
He is signed with Top Rank
I think the fact he skipped the Olympics just goes to show how far Olympic boxing has fallen in the past few years. It was barely even covered this past Olympics. 20 years ago, he would have gone to the Olympics, medaled, and come out a star. These days, he’s more likely to become a star by fighting as a prospect for a couple years and stepping up to fight bigger name opponents by the time he’s 20.
He does have potential star power if the ability and the motiviation are there. Kid’s got charisma, is handsome, is well-spoken, and will be in the media for years before he’s at the title level. There aren’t too many others I can think of with that combination.
At the pace we’re going, I’d be surprised if we have any new American boxing stars come out of the 2012 Olympics. Maybe Michael Hunter Jr. or Hasim Rahman Jr. (one of them SHOULD get to the Olympics, and the one who loses out should go pro immediately), but most of the better prospects are just going pro rather than waiting for the Olympics.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Apparently, in the qualifiers to last year’s world championships, he lost to another 17-year-old in his weight class named Frankie Gomez, who went on to win a silver medal. Could that have played a role in his decision too? It would really suck if he waited three years for London and then didn’t make the team.
I suspect that this other kid is not as good of a prospect as Benavidez is (just on the theory of “what are the odds,” not because I actually know anything about him). But maybe he’s a better amateur boxer.
Hey, now lookie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la2LmWHQqZE
That’s a video of Benavidez and Gomez sparring at the Wild Card. Both guys show some skills there, plus there’s a nice little style contrast.
I don’t suppose there’s any chance that they’ll ever meet as pros though, since they’ll probably end up in different weight classes.
Gomez is supposed to be good too
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
That poor Cox kid… he looked terrified going into the fight. Not a lot to learn from that fight other than the fact that his hands looked pretty quick.
He made Bruce Seldon look stoic
I wouldn’t be surprised if Cox literally crapped his pants.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
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