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Steve KimESPN
WBC super middleweight world titlist David Benavidez missed weight Friday ahead of his fight against Roamer Alexis Angulo at Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday and will not be eligible to retain the belt even if he wins.
Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) was 2.8 pounds over the 168-pound limit. The fight will proceed with only Angulo (26-1, 22 KOs) — who weighed-in at 167.6 pounds — eligible to win the title with a victory. If Benavidez wins the fight, the title will become vacant.
Benavidez said he tried to lose the extra weight in the past two days, but the last three pounds never came off and he made the decision not to try to cut any more weight.
Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., told ESPN’s Steve Kim on Friday that his son’s body simply shut down.
For the time being, Benavidez is planning to stay at 168. He said that due to the pandemic it was difficult to have a normal training camp. Also, with the rules inside Mohegan Sun regarding the coronavirus, they didn’t have the usual opportunities to work out in the days before the weigh-in.
“I’m very disappointed. Obviously this is my first time missing weight,” Benavidez said. “I’m very disappointed losing my title on the scales, but I still have a job to do tomorrow. I lose the title, but I’m still going to win the fight tomorrow.”
This is the second time that Benavidez has lost a super middleweight title outside the ring. After defeating Ronnie Gavril in September 2017 and beating him in a rematch in February 2018, Benavidez failed a random out-of-competition drug test for cocaine administered by VADA, for which he was stripped of his title and suspended by the WBC.
Benavidez returned to the ring in March 2019 and stopped J’Leon Love in two rounds. In September, Benavidez defeated Anthony Dirrell by ninth-round stoppage to become a two-time titlist.