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Jose Benavidez Jr. understood that his right leg would eventually become a hindrance when he accepted his shot at Terence Crawford’s WBO welterweight title.
Benavidez ultimately determined that turning down the fight he wanted most would’ve been a bad business decision, so he challenged Crawford anyway in October 2018. Later in their fight, Benavidez noticeably favored a right leg that was badly damaged during a career-threatening, unsolved shooting in August 2016.
The still-undefeated Crawford dropped and stopped Benavidez during the 12th round of their fight at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford’s hometown. Benavidez trailed 110-99, 108-101 and 107-102 entering that fateful 12th round.
Shawn Porter, who will face Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) on November 20 at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, still noted recently that he thinks Benavidez gave Crawford the toughest fight of Crawford’s 13-year pro career.
“I feel like I did amazing,” Benavidez told BoxingScene.com. “A lot of people thought I was gonna get stopped in two, three rounds. You know, I was actually trying to fight Crawford right before I got injured. I feel like me being injured played a big part in that fight, but I’m not gonna make excuses. He beat me. He was better than me that night. But I was honestly fighting with one leg and I feel like I gave him a great fight.
“I tried to run it back, get the rematch. He didn’t want to. It’s a part of life, you know? You lose some, you win some. But the thing is with me is that in that loss, I learned a lot. And it just motivated me. I’m not gonna lose again. I’m coming back stronger and I’m not losing again.”
Benavidez (27-1, 18 KOs) will finally fight Saturday night for the first time since Crawford defeated him three years ago.
The 29-year-old veteran will box Argentina’s Francisco Torres (17-3, 5 KOs) in a 10-round junior middleweight match Showtime will air as the opener of a doubleheader from Footprint Center in Phoenix, Benavidez’s hometown. His younger brother, super middleweight contender David Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs), is scheduled to battle Kyrone Davis (16-2-1, 6 KOs) in the 12-round main event of a telecast set to start at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT.
The older Benavidez hopes to be active in 2022 and move himself into position to fight for a 154-pound championship. He admits that his leg will never be “a hundred percent,” but Benavidez says it feels better than it did the night he lost to Crawford.
“I knew my leg was probably gonna end up giving me problems in the later rounds,” Benavidez recalled. “But it was either I take that fight I’ve been wanting for years, or they just give it to someone else. So, you know, whether I have one leg, one foot, one arm, whatever, I’m gonna fight because I’m a warrior. And I wanted that fight. I knew I was gonna give him a tough fight. You could see he didn’t wanna stay there and bang with me, you know? But I mean, it is what it is. He beat me. There’s no excuses.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.