Jose Benavidez Sr. tried to make a positive impression by calling his son David's spot on the undercard of the June 22 Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin card an “honor.”
Some fans might believe in Jose Sr.'s spin job if Benavidez had good PPV numbers in his last fight against Demetrius Andrade last November.
Benavidez on the undercard = not the charm of PPV
Unfortunately that was not the case.Walk-in only event 60,000 purchasesAnd those are terrible numbers for anyone, especially someone who has spent years railing against Canelo Alvarez 24/7.
I'm curious about Benavidez's placement on the Amazon Prime PPV Tank vs. Martin undercard card. That's because it shows he's not big enough to headline a card on his own.
“The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) will fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC interim light heavyweight title, which will take on mandatory IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev.
He will face WBA champion Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed title at 175 on June 1st.
Benavidez is looking to beat the only fighter in Gvozdyk to quickly rise to the top and establish himself, but he probably doesn't fit in among the contenders at No. 175 in the WBC rankings.
Questions arise about the placement of the undercard
“A lot of people are surprised that David is a co-main eventer fighting on the undercard of Tank. It's an honor for us,” Jose Benavidez Sr. told FightHype on June 22nd against Gervonta Davis. He talked about his son David Benavidez fighting on the undercard card against Frank Martin.
Jose Sr. can spin it however he wants, but this is a clear demotion for Benavidez to be placed on the undercard, and the timing means he can't be counted on as the headliner on the PPV card. Suggests.
If a fighter only earns 60,000 PPV buys, they usually don't remain on the pay-per-view card as a headliner. The only reason Devin Haney is still on the PPV after winning $50,000 for his fight against Regis Prograis is because he's fighting Ryan Garcia, a popular fighter with 11 million followers on Instagram.
“It's great. We're very excited. The fans who want to see David will come see David,” Jose Sr. said. “Fans who want to see Tank are going to come see Tank. They have two players they want to see, so it's a great card.
“My next fight is at 175, where I'll be fighting for the interim title, the WBC belt. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fight Beterbiev or Bivol. That's another fight that we love. Danger. It's a tough battle, but we're here to take on the challenge.
“We are here to prove ourselves. People love David. They want to compare the best to the best. I believe it will be another great fight.
Obstacles and weight changes
“If Canelo decides to fight David, we'll be back at 168. If they take that belt.” [WBC super middleweight] Even if he leaves, he will come back and fight for the belt. But we can't wait. We hope that all sanctioning bodies will be fair and do the right thing.
“We're moving because Canelo is holding all the belts hostage. There's nothing we can do about it. [at 168]” Benavidez Sr. said.
