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David Benavidez Jr. is an aggressive, come-forward fighter, so it should be no surprise that he has holds his likely next opponent, veteran Canadian knockout artist David Lemieux, in high regard.
Benavidez is reportedly set to face Lemieux in a 168-pound matchup sometime in the spring on Showtime, potentially in Benavidez’s hometown of Phoenix.
The fight figures to feature plenty of action, thanks to the offensive-minded sensibilities of both fighters. Indeed, in many ways the 25-year-old Benavidez believes his career path mirrors that of Lemieux’s in his prime.
“I’m really excited, too, [to fight Lemieux] because, you know, I’m not gonna lie, back then, I was a Lemieux fan,” Benavidez said on the Calling Russ Anber podcast. “I’ve been, like I said, I’ve been watching boxing my whole life. So when David Lemieux came he had his run, too, where he knocking everybody out.”
Since the moment he turned professional in 2007, Lemieux was regarded as a fearsome puncher. He ran into trouble, however, midway through his career, with back-to-back losses against Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine, but the Quebec native would bounce back, notching wins over the likes of Gabriel Rosado, Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, and Curtis Stevens, and losing only to titleholders Gennadiy Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders.
“I think it started with [Gabe] Rosado and then he just kept coming up, just demolishing people,” Benavidez said of Lemieux. “So I love the way he fights and I know he’s coming to fight. That’s why I only took two weeks off after my [last] fight. I’ve been training this whole time.”
Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) is coming off a seventh-round TKO over Kyrone Davis on Nov. 13. The hard-hitting volume puncher is trying to work his way back into a title shot after losing his WBC belt twice because of issues that took place out of the ring: the first was when he tested positive for cocaine in 2018; the second was when he came in overweight ahead of his bout against Roamer Alexis Angulo in 2020.
Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs) has reeled off five straight fights since his unanimous points loss to Saunders in 2017.
“I feel like this is a fight that people want to see,” Benavidez said. “Two former world champions trying to get to the next level. We both need this fight to get to the next level, the WBC interim title. So we’re both gonna come hungry.
“Like I said I wanna make a statement. It’s gonna be a great fight, but it’s not gonna go the distance.”