David Benavidez

Benavidez has 22 knockouts in his 25 career fights and is expected to make short work of Lemieux on Saturday night.

NY, AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV only. NY, AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV only. Must be 21+. AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, LA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY only. 21+. New customers only. 21+. New customers only. Now you see why the fight is +650 to go to the scorecards. New customers only. The odds say it’s a foregone conclusion that Benavidez is going to win this fight pretty easily. Also, Lemieux has been stopped only twice in 47 fights and neither came before Round 7. Benavidez has 22 knockouts in his 25 career fights and is expected to make short work of Lemieux on Saturday night. While the odds suggest this won’t be a very difficult fight for Benavidez, there are other ways to profit such as method of victory, total rounds, and which round the fight will end. The great thing about boxing is it doesn’t have to be a huge fight for bettors to win money.

David Benavidez dominated David Lemieux in a third-round TKO win Saturday night, positioning himself to be a mandatory challenger for the WBC's super ...

Benavidez has previously held the WBC's 168-pound belt on two different occasions but has been stripped twice - once in 2018 for a positive cocaine test and again in 2020 for missing weight. A jab sent Lemieux (43-5, 36 KOs) through the ropes in the first 30 seconds of the second round. Referee Harvey Dock watched as Benavidez unloaded a barrage of punches and grabbed Lemieux as soon as the bell rang. At the end of the first round, Benavidez rocked the smaller Canadian fighter with a left hook that sent him into the corner. "I just feel I'm the strongest 168-pounder," Benavidez said in his post-fight interview. Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) entered the night ranked as ESPN's No. 2 super middleweight behind Canelo Alvarez, the division's undisputed champion.

The former super middleweight champion is back as he continues his efforts to regain his crown.

The unfortunate reality for Lemieux is that he has one path to victory and that's to land a massive fight-changing punch. There's some question about whether the full load of Lemieux's power truly moved up to 168 and he's the older, smaller man with a lot of miles on his body. "I like to put everything into the fight and figure out the rest later. Subscribe to Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the best analysis and in-depth news, including what to expect from David Benavidez's return to the ring on Saturday night below. The miles have been run, the rounds have been sparred and the weight has been lost already," Benavidez said at the final press conference. "I really want to go in there and earn this title.

GLENDALE, Arizona – David Benavidez vowed to leave the ring with a knockout and the title at stake. It was mission accomplished for Phoenix's favorite son, ...

Lemieux briefly held the IBF middleweight title, a reign that lasted just five months before an eighth-round knockout loss to Gennadiy Golovkin in their October 2015 middleweight title unification bout at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Lemieux showed up a fleshy 166.2 pounds on Friday and seemingly unable to get back down to a weight more befitting his frame. Still, he did jump in the ring for the fight. David Benavidez is a hell of a fighter.” Benavidez went right back to work, pummeling Lemieux along the ropes and landing at will. Referee Harvey Dock gave Lemieux a long hard look in between rounds before permitting the action to continue. It came moments after Lemieux opened the round confident, while Benavidez was content to observe the incoming before eventually letting his hands go. Lemieux beat the count but was seemingly a punch away from being brutally knocked out. The fight ceased being competitive by that point, with Lemeiux battered by a barrage of right hands, uppercuts and left hooks. It was mission accomplished for Phoenix’s favorite son, who tore through Montreal’s David Lemieux en route to a third-round knockout win. So I just kept coming.” “If it wasn't for my people from Arizona, then I wouldn't be here.

Benavidez made easy work of Lemieux to win the WBC interim super middleweight championship.

Lemieux was told by the referee that he would be on a short leash before the fight was stopped, and to his credit, Lemieux continued walking forward and throwing power shots. Despite the show of heart from Lemieux, he was clearly stunned by nearly every punch Benavidez landed, repeatedly stumbling backwards as Benavidez landed clean to the chin. That face-first attack worked fine for roughly two minutes of the first round, where Lemieux was able to land a few left hooks as he trapped Benavidez against the ropes. Benavidez has twice held super middleweight world championships in his career, losing those titles outside of the right. Benavidez responded with a dominant performance, brutalizing Lemieux before scoring a TKO in the third round when Lemieux's corner mercifully spared him any further damage. That left him with a need to wade through dangerous territory to close the distance into punching range.

Hopefully, Benavidez will get a title shot against WBC and undisputed super middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez. “I'm waiting for all those top guys to ...

“The ref was clearly on his side, constantly interrupting the fight. I was at 50% after the rib injury, but credit to him for having fought like he did.” “What I found out is you have to be prepared for 10 rounds, and I was prepared tonight for this fight. “I kept my distance, hit him when I had to and built up my equity round by round. “I feel great, and this was another positive step forward,” Nunez said. “I wanted to steal the show tonight, and all Mexicans are warriors, and (Cota) was a warrior and he took me the 10 rounds,” Gomez said. After the first round I was okay, he had gotten me with some good shots. “I’m waiting for all those top guys to send me the contract,” Benavidez said. Lemieux staggered in the second round and was severely cut over his left eye. Facing tough guys like Lemieux just pushes me to keep moving to the next level.” I had to be on my p’s and q’s. He’s a tough champion, so my hat’s off to him. “I just feel like I’m the strongest 168 pounder.