Benavidez and Lemieux headline Arizona card

On Saturday, May 21, former world champion David Benavidez will face fellow former champion Canadian David Lemieux for the World Boxing Council Interim Super Middleweight Title, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), who was already a two-time WBC green and gold champion, in his most recent fight he knocked out Philadelphia’s Kryone Davis in the seventh round on November 13 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Benavidez first won the all-around title in September 2017, making a successful title defense before being stripped of the belt after testing positive for a banned substance through random testing by the WBC Clean Boxing Program.

A fully recovered Benavidez regained his belt with a ninth-round TKO over Anthony Dirrell, with plans to defend his crown in April 2020 against Alexis Angulo sadly ruined by the pandemic.

David lost the title from him for the second time after failing to make weight before his rescheduled August 2020 fight with Angulo. Benavidez defeated Angulo in the tenth round, but without the world title at stake.

For his part, Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs) comes into this fight after winning eight of his last nine fights showing that he retains his quality and looks stronger in the 168-pound division.

His most recent bout was won by a second-round knockout over David Zegarra in a fight held in Mexico last June.
The broadcast of the card will be through Showtime.