David Benavidez will defend his super middleweight title against Caleb Truax on April 18 on Showtime, according to The Athletic.
It’s not the Caleb many boxing fans would like to see David Benavidez fight but the deal reportedly is done.
Benavidez will defend his super middleweight title against former beltholder Caleb Truax on April 18 on Showtime, according to The Athletic. The site hasn’t been announced.
The fight could help build toward a title-unification showdown with the unbeaten Caleb Plant.
Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) is coming off an impressive ninth-round stoppage of Anthony Dirrell, which allowed him to regain the belt stripped from him when he tested positive for cocaine.
Truax (31-4-2, 19 KOs) won a super middleweight title when he upset James DeGale by decision in 2017 but lost it in the rematch four months later.
The Minnesotan is coming off a majority-decision victory over David Basajjamivule on Jan. 25.
Jean Pascal and Badou Jack are both fighting to stay in title contention in the light heavyweight division.
Jean Pascal just wouldn’t go away.
The Haitian-Canadian, known as much for his fighting spirit as his skill set, lost a decision and his light heavyweight title to Bernard Hopkins in 2011. He bounced back. He was stopped by Sergey Kovalev in two title fights, in 2015 and 2016, and simply got back to work. He lost a decision to Eleider Alvarez in 2017 and then titleholder Dmitry Bivol last year, which seemed to signal the end of his career as an elite fighter.
Not quite. Pascal got one more big fight – against Marcus Browne in August – and this time his persistence paid off. Pascal, 36 at the time, won a close, eight-round technical decision after Browne was cut by an accidental head butt to remain in the 175-pound title hunt.
Pascal fights Badou Jack on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Saturday in Atlanta on Showtime.
“I’ve been fighting at the highest level for the last 11 years,” Pascal (34-6-1, 20 KOs) said. “That means something. I’m a special fighter. I have things that nobody can teach, which is a chin and a heart.”
Jean Pascal (left) and Badou Jack are both fighting to remain in title contention in the light heavyweight division. Amanda Westcott / Showtime
Jack (22-2-3, 13 KOs) hasn’t fought for almost a year, since he suffered a ghastly cut on his forehead in a unanimous-decision loss to Browne last January.
Before that, the former super middleweight titleholder had his own share of disappointment. Most recently, he had to settle for draws in two of his previous three fights – against James DeGale and Adonis Stevenson – that some believe he deserved to win.
Jack, 36, also is fighting to remain in the thick of things. That fact isn’t lost on Pascal.
“I know that Badou has had a long layoff and he’s fresh and will be even hungrier. I’m always hungry and that will make it a great fight on Saturday night,” Pascal said.
For his part, Jack can’t wait to get into the ring.
“I guess you have to wait until Saturday night for me to prove that I still have it,” Jack said. “I was flat against Marcus Browne, regardless of the cut, but I feel much better this time than I did heading into that fight.
“All of the close decisions I’ve had in the past, everyone who watched those fights knows that those were wins. Saturday night I’m going to win and there will be no doubt.”
Pascal, now 37, doesn’t plan to go away just yet.
“Badou Jack is a solid fighter with great defense and good attack,” he said. “I’ve had a great camp in Puerto Rico. I’ve been away from my family for three months and I’m war ready. Make sure you tune in.”
Badou Jack is scheduled to face veteran Jean Pascal on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Dec. 28, his first fight in almost a year.
Consider the last seven opponents that former super middleweight champ Badou Jack has faced: Anthony Dirrell, George Groves, Lucian Bute, James DeGale, Nathan Cleverly, Adonis Stevenson and Marcus Browne.
Who faces a gauntlet like that in this day and age? Precious few.
Indeed, if any fighter deserves an easy opponent, it’s Jack. So who will the 36-year-old Swede fight on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Dec. 28 in Atlanta on Showtime? Jean Pascal, another tough veteran coming off an upset victory over Browne in August.
It never ends.
“I’m getting older,” Jack said on The PBC Podcast. “I might deserve a tune-up fight. When I fight better opposition, I step up my game more, I fight better. My first loss … I fought a journeyman (Derek Edwards). I wasn’t really 100 percent. And that’s when accidents happen. … I fight my best when I fight top guys.”
Jack (22-2-3, 13 KOs) fought a top guy last January, Browne, who won a wide decision at least in part because of a gruesome cut in the middle of Jack’s forehead – the result of an accidental head butt in the seventh round – that bled profusely.
Badou Jack is hard at work preparing for his fight against Jean Pascal on Dec. 28 in Atlanta on Showtime. Sean Michael Ham / Mayweather Promotions
Jack fought hard the remainder of the fight but, having fallen behind in the early rounds, he couldn’t make up the lost ground.
“I should’ve won that fight,” Jack said. “… He’s a front runner. He always looks good in the beginning. He’s fast, athletic. I break you down. Usually I’m better in the later rounds. He won some of the early rounds. I won maybe one round or two before the cut. And then I got the cut. I couldn’t even see for six, seven rounds. He still couldn’t do nothing.
“It’s in the past, a learning experience. I shouldn’t have lost that fight, though. It is what it is.”
Of course, Jack went into the fight with the reputation of being a tough guy – remember that gauntlet – but he enhanced his image with his determination to persevere through one of the worst gashes in recent memory.
“It’s crazy, people giving me … more credit for that fight than any of my good wins,” he said. “And that was my worst fight in my pro career. Just because I showed heart and kept fighting with that cut.
“That’s something you can’t teach. You’re either a fighter, you’re either born with it or not.”
Jack, returning from a bad cut, will have been out of the ring for almost a year when he takes on Pascal. Sean Michael Ham / Mayweather Promotions
Jack certainly remains a fighter, even in his mid-30s. He said he doesn’t feel a sense of urgency in spite of his age. The cut has healed well, he said. In fact, doctors cleared him to fight a few months after the Browne fight.
And he said he feels as if he’s back on track after the setback. He’s confident going into the fight with Pascal (34-6-1, 20 KOs).
“I don’t feel no pressure,” he said. “… I still feel young. Even though (Jean Pascal) is only a year older than me, he’s been a pro longer than me. I have only 10 year in the pro game and 26, 27 fights, whatever I’ve got. I don’t feel no pressure. But I definitely need to win this fight, of course.”
Jack has begun to think about the legacy he will leave. He held a major 168-pound title from 2015 to 2017 and won what the WBA calls its “regular” 175-pound title in 2017. Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize that belt.
“I want to define my legacy,” Jack said. “I feel good. I feel good in the gym. I felt like s—t in my last fight because of some mistakes that happened in camp and this thing with (Adonis) Stevenson happened right before I started camp. I don’t want to make excuses.
“Right now, I feel great in the gym. As far as running, rounds, letting my hands go … I’m doing great numbers. On fight night we’ll see what happens. I’d love to become a three-division world champion.”
Chris Eubank Jr. will make his U.S. debut against middleweight southpaw Matvey Korobov on the undercard of Charlo-Hogan this Saturday.
Chris Eubank Jr. knows that there is only so much he can do to further build on his family name back home in England. Here in America, though? The possibilities seem endless.
“My goal is to make a name for myself in the U.S. and broaden our horizons,” Eubank, the son of former two-division titleholder Chris Eubank Sr., said during a media workout today in Brooklyn. “The fight fans here have known me for a while, but I want to break out past that.”
The 30-year-old Eubank takes his first step in that direction against Matvey Korobov this Saturday at the Barclays Center on the undercard of the middleweight title fight between Jermall Charlo and Dennis Hogan.
“This is a great starting fight for me in the U.S. We’re aiming to make our own history,” Eubank said. “I’ve done so much in England, and I feel like this is the right time to expose myself to the American public.”
Chris Eubank Jr. came to the U.S. to conquer new territories. Stephanie Trapp / Showtime
Eubank (28-2, 21 knockouts) is coming off a career-best win over former super middleweight titleholder and compatriot James DeGale last February. Eubank battered the shopworn DeGale over 12 rounds en route to a unanimous-decision win. He also participated in the World Boxing Super series 168-pound tournament, defeating Avni Yildirim by third-round knockout but dropping a decision to George Groves, another domestic rival.
Eubank suffered his other loss early in his career against Billy Joe Saunders, which is to say that he has pretty much exhausted all the major fights in his native U.K. Hence, his focus on the U.S. scene.
“I’ve been dreaming about coming here and fighting in the U.S. since I was a kid,” he said. “You dream about fighting where all your favorite fighters came to perform on the big stage. To do it here in New York is special. It’s an iconic place, and so many great world champions have come from here.”
Against Korobov, Eubank will face a skilled southpaw who gave 160-pound titleholder Charlo all he could handle last year. Some observers believe Korobov did enough to eke out a decision. One possible factor in Eubank’s favor is that he will be fighting at his natural weight for the first time in several years.
“I’m not a true super middleweight, so I’m excited to be fighting at 160 pounds. I’m going to be a beast,” Eubank said. “I’m going to be an absolute savage. The power and the speed is going to really shine through against guys my own size.”
Should he get past Korobov on Saturday, Eubank has his sights set any of the middleweight titleholders, including one of Saturday’s main-eventers.
“Anyone with a belt in the middleweight division, I’m coming for them,” Eubank said. “If that means Charlo, I’ll be more than happy to get in there with him.”
