‘I just want to make a lane for myself and fight the best’: Benavidez talks about facing Andrade
David Benavidez takes on Demetrius Andrade on Nov. 25 on Showtime PPV.
As David Benavidez readies himself for a Nov. 25 Showtime PPV main event against Demetrius Andrade, he joins Brian Custer’s Last Stand Podcast to talk about the fight, reflect on his last performance, and answer critics of his style. Check out some excerpts of what Benavidez had to say below.
Benavidez on why he’s fighting Andrade
“This is the toughest fight in the division for me right now. Canelo’s doing his own thing, I was the #1 contender for two years, but he’s doing whatever he’s doing. So now I just want to make a lane for myself and fight the best fighters I could possibly fight. Demetrius Andrade is a great fighter, very technical, very sneaky, so I think this is going to be a great test for myself but I am going to come out victorious.”
On if he expects there to be a better chance for him to fight Canelo now that he’s aligned with PBC
“Yeah, I definitely think there’s a better chance of making this fight happen. It was a three-fight deal so we’ll see what happens. At the end of the day my mind isn’t 100% focused on Canelo. My mind is on dominating the 168 pound division.”
On how he rates his performance against Plant
“I thought it was a great performance. To be honest with you, I’m a little upset with myself that I didn’t get the stoppage. I think if we would’ve done things a little bit different we would’ve got it. But it was a great fight overall, I feel like it lived up to the hype. We gave the fans a massive fight, a massive event, and a fight for the yearbooks to remember. We won the fight but ultimately Caleb Plant won my respect, too.”
On Tim Bradley believing he’ll get exposed by Andrade
“Well that’s why we fight the fights at the end of the day, right? I don’t really care what Tim Bradley has to say about me. At the end of the day, if Caleb Plant outboxed me maybe his gas tank should’ve been a bit better, maybe he should’ve beat me.
“There’s always going to be critics. People are going to say what they want to say, but at the end of the day I’m enjoying what I’m doing, I love what I do, and I’m going to continue to work hard.”