David Benavidez is on the hunt for history…
The 20-year-old Latino boxer is one step closer to achieving his goal of becoming the youngest fighter to win a super middleweight world title.
The WBC has agreed to sanction a title eliminator between Benavidez (17-0, 16 KOs) and former title challenger Rogelio “Porky” Medina (37-7, 31 KOs), according to promoter Sampson Lewkowicz.
“This is the final test for David Benavidez,” Lewkowicz said. “If he does to this guy what he did to so many other fighters, it will be time for the world to acknowledge that David is going to be a star in boxing. This test will show everyone that he is truly everything we’ve been saying he is since he was a teenager. I am proud of the hard work he is doing and look forward to this great victory.”
The date and location of the fight are still to be determined, Lewkowicz said.
England’s Callum Smith (22-0, 17 KOs) and Anthony Dirrell (30-1-1, 24 KOs), the former titleholder, are due to meet this spring for the belt recently vacated by Badou Jack, who is moving up in weight. The winner of that bout must make his first defense against Turkey’s Avni Yildirim (15-0, 10 KOs).
The fighter who emerges with the title following those two bouts will be mandated to face the Benavidez-Medina winner.
“This is the biggest opportunity of my life, and I’m not going to let it go to waste,” said Benavidez, who served as one of unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin‘s chief sparring partners as he prepared for his March 18 fight with Daniel Jacobs. “I’m going to destroy this guy like I do everybody else. I have never trained this hard for a fight, and I feel that, come fight time, I’ll be extremely strong and do it up.”
The super middleweight division was created in 1984 and the youngest fighter to win a world title at 168 pounds is Darin Van Horn, who was 22 years, 8 months and 11 days old when he knocked out Lindell Holmes in the 11th round to win the IBF version of the belt May 18, 1991.
If Benavidez defeats Medina, he would get the opportunity to challenge for a world title well before he turns 22. Benavidez does not turn 21 until Dec. 17.