It looks as if David Benavidez is going home for the first defense of a super middleweight title he regained.
Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) is scheduled to face Roamer Alexis Angulo (26-1, 22 KOs) on April 18 at Arizona Federal Theater in downtown Phoenix on Showtime, The Athletic is reporting.
Angulo replaces Caleb Truax as the challenger for the 168-pound belt held by Benavidez, who came back from a six-month suspension for a positive cocaine test on September 29 with a unanimous decision over Anthony Dirrell on a card featuring welterweight Errol Spence Jr.’s victory over Shawn Porter.
Angulo, of Colombia, is the third opponent to move into the mandatory challenger’s spot for the belt. Initially, Avni Yildirim, of Turkey, was in line to fight the 23-year-old Benavidez. But he withdrew because of a shoulder injury.
Benavidez, the younger brother of former junior welterweight champion Jose Benavidez Jr., grew up in Phoenix. He fought three fights in his hometown in 2015 after making his professional debut in Mexico.
The Benavidez-featured card will be the first boxing event at the downtown Phoenix theater in several years. Acelino Freitas beat Daniel Attah in a junior lightweight title defense there in June 2002 when it was named Dodge Theater. Former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito stopped Hercules Kyvelos there on HBO in January 2004. Late Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward promoted a series of cards there in 2005.
