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If David Benavidez Jr. ever winds up fighting Demetrius Andrade some day, it will require something like a career payday, according to his promoter.
Sampson Lewkowicz, the promoter of 25-year-old undefeated super middleweight Benavidez, put the brakes on a potential fight between his charge and Andrade, the slick, two-division titleholder from Rhode Island. Talk of the two facing each other had ramped up in recent weeks after Benavidez, a former two-time titlist at 168, expressed his desire to face Andrade, who is currently looking to move up from the middleweight ranks. Andrade could make his 168-pound debut in an eliminator against England’s Zach Parker.
But for all the enthusiasm Benavidez, a hard-charging, volume puncher, has for fighting the tricky southpaw, his handler apparently has no intentions of signing off on that bout, unless, that is, someone is willing to break the bank to make it happen.
“I’m the exclusive promoter of Benavidez,” Lewkowicz told Tha Boxing Voice in a recent interview. “I will tell you that the fight could happen. But in this case the money needs to be right. But it could happen.”
Complicating matters is the fact that Benavidez and Andrade share different promotional allegiances. Benavidez is aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champion and Showtime while Andrade is backed by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.
Previously, Hearn tried to entice another PBC fighter, middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo, with a substantial financial package to face Andrade. Back in 2019, Hearn said he emailed the Houston-based Charlo a one-fight offer to the tune of $7 million to fight Andrade on DAZN.
Asked if he would be open to letting Benavidez fight Andrade if a $7 million offer was on the table, Lewkowicz countered by saying that the offer would have to be more than what Benavidez would stand to earn in a fight against Mexican superstar and current undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez.
“[The fight with Andrade] can be [on] either [network], but the money needs to be superior, much more than to fight Canelo.”
Lewkowicz added, “It needs to be much more than that [$7 million].”
Lewkowicz defended his comments by pointing to the relatively high risk-low reward proposition represented by Andrade. The 33-year-old southpaw is considered to be one of the more talented fighters in the sport, but he has been criticized heavily for his defensive-first approach in the ring and subpar commercial appeal. To allow Benavidez, a fighter whose style comports with fans’ expectations for knockouts, to go up against someone often criticized as boring and difficult, Lewkowicz would need his fighter to receive a large financial incentive.
“Yes,” Lewkowicz said when asked to reiterate his request for a high purse. “Because it’s not an easy fight. He’s [Andrade] a great fighter. Whoever wants to put that fight [on], it’s most likely not [going to be] so attractive. That one needs to be for the money.”
Lewkowicz denied that the seemingly exorbitant purse demand was his way of “pricing out” his fighter.
“No, because this is what [Benavidez] deserves when he fights a guy who brings nothing to the table,” Lewkowicz said, referring to Andrade.
“People [don’t] pay to see [Andrade],” Lewkowicz added.
Lewkowicz thinks, above all, that Benavidez-Andrade is simply a bad stylistic matchup, noting that “We need a nice GPS to find” Andrade inside the ring. Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) will beat Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), he says, but he doesn’t expect his charge to look necessarily impressive in doing so.
“Andrade is another fight that maybe he will win, but he will not look good,” Lewkowicz said. “He will beat [him], but he will not look good. Styles make the fights. It’s not the right style for anybody. Doesn’t mean that everybody is afraid of him. [Both] the winner or the loser…will look bad.”
Lewkowicz says Andrade needs to change up his style for that fight to become more attractive, although he is not holding his breath. Lewkowicz pointed to the example of his former client Sergio Martinez as someone who strove to make himself a more entertaining presence inside the ring.
“Let me tell you a story,” Lewkowicz said. “When Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez came to America, and I saw him in his first fight, I told him you need to engage more. You need to fight, change little bit your style.
“That doesn’t happen with this kid. Andrade will never change. He doesn’t want to show a good fight to the people who pay to see him. And that is the difference [between him and Benavidez].”