David Benavidez will headline on Showtime in April
Unbeaten WBC Super Middleweight Champion at David Benavidez will make the latest defense of his championship in his hometown of Phoenix headlining the Showtime card for Premier Boxing Champions on April 18th.
? FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ?
Super Middleweight World Champ @Benavidez300 defends his 168-LB WBC Title in a homecoming bout vs Roamer Alexis Angulo on Saturday, April 18 at @AZFedTheatre in Phoenix and live on @ShowtimeBoxing. #BenavidezAngulo
?: https://t.co/A4nvdza7Db pic.twitter.com/LTCZBHbeRf
— PBC (@premierboxing) March 9, 2020
Benavidez was last in action in September, when he stopped Anthony Dirrell in the 9th round to regain his WBC 168 lb. belt in Los Angeles on the undercard of Errol Spence’s victory over Shawn Porter. The fight was stopped in large part due to a nasty gash that Benavidez opened over Dirrel’s eye in the sixth and continued to score at will from then on.
Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) said of being the main event in his hometown in the statement released by PBC,
“I’m very excited to be fighting Angulo on SHOWTIME and in front of my hometown crowd,” said Benavidez. “I haven’t fought in Phoenix in five years. It’s exciting to be back. I expect Angulo to come in ready. I know he just pulled an upset in his last fight and he’s not taking any shortcuts, but neither am I. Angulo has never been stopped, so I want to be the first person to stop him. I feel like I’m more motivated with a hungry fighter like him in front of me, and you will see it in my performance.”
As for Angulo, he challenged Super Middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez unsuccessfully in 2018 for his only pro loss (26-1).
Benavidez regained hid Super Middleweight title after previously having lost it due to testing positive for cocaine, as he was slated to defend his title for the second time and fight Dirrell in September 2018. He was popped by a voluntary anti-doping agency (VADA) pre-fight drug test that August.
He was subsequently stripped and suspended by the WBC for four months. Then, Dirrell (31-1-1) ended up capturing the vacant WBC belt in February, when he won a technical decision over Avni Yildirim.
Benavidez is trained by his father Jose, Sr. and his older brother Jose Jr. challenged Terence Crawford for the WBO Welterweight title losing on a 12th round TKO in September 2018.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
