April 9, 2024
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
David Benavidez’s slurred words and self-described “drunk” appearance on Saturday night’s DAZN boxing broadcast in Las Vegas was “extremely disturbing” to watch, Hall of Fame fighter Timothy Bradley Jr. said Monday.
“Watching him put his career out there like that … in the public eye … if you want to get plastered, if you want to drink, that’s something you do at home,” Bradley said while appearing on Pro Box TV’s “Deep Waters.”
“You can’t be doing that [on] the night of the fights. Cameras are around. People are constantly [recording] you. Kids are around. You’ve got [many] fans watching that.”
On a card that included Benavidez’s promotional teammate, unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco, DAZN’s Chris Mannix interviewed former super middleweight titleholder Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) about how Pacheco was faring.
The fighter’s words were muffled and fractured, and he issued an apology afterward on Instagram, saying he had “one too many” drinks and that it wouldn’t happen again.
Benavidez, 27, has been repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to challenge four-division champion and undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Saturday’s appearance did him no favors in repairing the perception that Benavidez may be a risky selection for such a treasured bout on the fight calendar, given Benavidez’s title-stripping positive cocaine test in 2018 and his loss of the WBC 168-pound belt in 2020 when he weighed in 2.8 pounds over the division’s limit.
Bradley said the message Benavidez left to young fans and fighters by appearing on DAZN in that condition was damaging.
“He seemed like he was sincere” in his apology, Bradley said. “The apology showed maturity. He was embarrassed. I think he’s going to make better decisions.”
Yet Bradley and fellow “Deep Waters” panelist Paulie Malignaggi said the timing – the fact that Benavidez has already launched his training camp in preparation for his June bout against former light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk – was most troubling.
“You don’t drink during camp. That’s a no-no,” Bradley said. “The alcohol doesn’t blend well with training … being dehydrated the next day and sparring. [All] the work … you’ve got to be clean. You’ve got to be at your best for that.
“Yes, he’s young. I know guys in the past have done cocaine and different drugs and still fought. But your career doesn’t last too long.”
Said former welterweight champion Malignaggi: “It catches up to you.”
Benavidez, coming off a highly impressive stoppage of former middleweight titleholder .
Demetrius Andrade, has pressed Alvarez to fight him – but to no avail. Instead, the selection for Canelo’s Cinco de Mayo weekend May 4 fight opponent was former junior middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia.
“All eyes are on you, David,” Bradley said. “You act correct, you’re at your best. When you’re not [filling] your body with substances like that, it’s going to be hard to stop you. You want to give yourself the best chance you possibly can to be at your very best through your entire career.
“[Saturday night was] bad, but it is what it is now. Water under the bridge.”
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