From the Raiders to Formula One, several events have caught the attention of sports fans in Las Vegas this year. But that does not mean that the city has lost its place as the capital of world boxing.
A year of great fights concludes Saturday night, when two undefeated fighters, David Benavídez and Demetrius Andrade, clash for the interim super middleweight championship of the World Boxing Council (WBC).
“Las Vegas is the mecca,” said Andrade. “It is the most important place in the world of boxing.”
The city's first big fight of the year took place in April, when Gervonta Davis knocked out Ryan Garcia in the seventh round of a fight between undefeated contenders for the lightweight title. Devin Haney, unified champion of the category, triumphed by unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko a month later.
Terence Crawford became the unified welterweight champion by technical knockout against Errol Spence Jr. in the ninth round of a fight held in July. And in September, Mexican Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez defended his unified super middleweight title by clearly dominating Jermell Charlo by unanimous decision.
So Benavidez (27-0 with 23 knockouts) and Andrade (32-0 with 19 knockouts) have high standards to meet. Benavidez is the WBC provisional champion and Andrade has reigned in two divisions.
“This is a great way to close out the year,” Benavídez said. “I feel like this is going to be the best show of the year, because everyone has a lot to prove. "It's going to be an amazing night and there's no way we're going to let the fans down."
José Benavídez Jr. (28-2-1 with 19 knockouts) is David's brother, and will face Jermall Charlo (32-0 with 22 knockouts), who is Jermell's brother and is not exposing his middleweight belt this time . Instead, another pair of championships will be at stake.
As for the main fight on the card, Benavidez, 26, is a minus-430 favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, over Andrade, 35. A win for Benavidez, who was born in Phoenix and resides in Las Vegas, could leave him on the way to facing “Canelo”.
The Mexican Mauricio Sulaimán, president of the WBC, has declared that Benavídez will in fact clash against Álvarez. However, “Canelo” has not committed to sustaining that fight.
If Álvarez refuses to fight Benavídez, the WBC could declare the title vacant.
When asked about the future after beating Charlo, Álvarez said: “May 5, against whoever. I don't mind".