Consider the super middleweight division on blast.
Despite his prodigious power and talent, many expected 20-year-old prospect David Benavidez to have at least some trouble with recent title challenger Rogelio Medina in the main event of last night’s PBC on FS1 show in Laredo. Medina, who gave James DeGale everything he could handle, represented a considerable step up for Benavidez and appeared to have the style necessary to push him into deep waters.
Not so much.
Benavidez (18-0, 17 KO) showed terrifying speed and power, working Medina’s (37-8, 31 KO) head and body with brutal combinations. His uppercut in particular looked fit to launch Medina into the bleachers, but “Porky” somehow held on until the eighth despite two knockdowns. There, Benavidez landed a flurry of shots reminiscent of Ward-Gatti I that sent Medina stumbling nearly through the ropes.
For someone born after Bill Clinton was elected president, that’s pretty damn impressive.
Benavidez is now the mandatory challenger for the winner of September 9th’s Callum Smith-Anthony Dirrell vacant title showdown and I think he might have the goods to take either of them. It’s really something when someone’s shoeshine punches hit as hard as other fighters’ haymakers.