Fight Week: David Benavidez, David Lemieux set for clash of big punchers

Fight Week: David Benavidez and David Lemieux are set for a clash of big punchers on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona.

FIGHT WEEK

Super middleweight contenders David Benavidez and David Lemieux will face off in a battle of big punchers Saturday in Arizona (Showtime).

David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) vs. David Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs)

  • When: Saturday, May 21
  • Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona
  • TV/Stream: Showtime
  • Division: Super middleweight (168 pounds)
  • Rounds: 12
  • At stake: No major titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: None
  • Odds: Benavidez 11½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
  • Also on the card: Yoelvis Gomez vs. Jorge Cota, junior middleweight
  • Prediction: Benavidez KO 7
  • Background: Two-time titleholder David Benavidez and longtime contender David Lemieux will fight for the WBC “interim” belt, which will move the winner closer to a major title fight. Benavidez is riding a streak of five consecutive knockouts, including a seventh-round stoppage of Kyrone Davis this past November. Benavidez has been mentioned as a possible opponent for undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez. He also has expressed an interest in facing Caleb Plant and middleweight titleholders Jermall Charlo and Demetrius Andrade. He lives in Seattle but grew up in Phoenix, not far from Glendale. Lemieux, a knockout artist from Montreal, has lost his biggest fights. That includes a KO loss to Gennadiy Golovkin in 2015 and a decision against Billy Joe Saunders in 2017. However, he has won five consecutive fights since the latter setback. He was last in the ring in June of last year, when he stopped David Zegarra in the second round.

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

  • Kerman Lejarraga vs. James Metcale, junior middleweights, Bilbao, Spain (DAZN).
  • Fanlong Meng vs. Jean Pascal, light heavyweights, Plant City, Florida (TV).

SATURDAY

  • Joshua Buatsi vs. Craig Richards, light heavyweights; Chantelle Cameron vs. Victoria Bustos, for Cameron’s WBC/IBF women’s junior welterweight title, London (DAZN).
  • Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Danny Dignum, middleweights; Jamel Herring vs. Jamaine Ortiz, lightweights, Las Vegas (ESPN, ESPN+).
  • Christopher Diaz vs. Miguel Beltran, featherweights, Orlando, Florida (Bally’s Sports Net)
  • Tevin Farmer vs. Mickey Bey, lightweights; Isaac Dogboe vs. Eugene Lagos, featherweights, Accra, Ghana (pay-per-view).

[lawrence-related id=30164,26449,25894,25892,25875]