Why David Benavidez’s Achilles’ Heel (Body Shots) Makes Callum Smith A Dangerous Opponent

David Benavidez’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, reports that he’s working on a fight with WBO interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith for October. He says he’s open to staging the fight in the UK for the “right deal.” The other two possible locations are Dallas and Las Vegas.

Benavidez vs. Smith: October Fight

It would be a difficult one for Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs), who was elevated to WBC light heavyweight champion status last April when the previous beltholder, Dmitry Bivol, opted to face Artur Beterbiev in a trilogy rather than defend against him. At the time, Benavidez held the WBC interim belt.

Benavidez, 28, absorbed a lot of punishment from David Morrell in his last fight on February 1st, and he might have lost it if the Cuban talent had boxed him in the first half of the fight instead of slugging in a toe-to-toe manner. In the second half, Morrell came on to get the better of an exhausted, beat-up-looking Benavidez.

Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) doesn’t possess the skills to box Benavidez. So, if the fight happens, he’s going to slug it out with him at close range and make it a war. It’ll be another grueling fight for ‘The Mexican Monster’, but he could get Callum out of there if he can withstand his body shots.

Benavidez’s Vulnerability: Body Shots

What makes Smith dangerous for Benavidez is his body punching. David was hurt to the body in his fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last year. That is an area that is clearly Benavidez’s Achilles’ heel.

Most of his opponents during his career have targeted his brick-like head, choosing to take advantage of his nonexistent defense. It doesn’t work. Benavidez can take headshots well. Although Morrell dropped him late in the fight, he got up and continued fighting well. If Callum can attack Benavidez’s body, he may bring him to heel and score a stoppage.

Promoter Eyes UK Deal

“Either fight is a good fight,” promoter Sampson Lewkowicz told The Ring about a fight with Anthony Yarde or Callum Smith against Benavidez. “It’s up to Eddie Hearn if he wants to make the deal [for Benavidez vs. Smith]. We’re also ready to go to England and fight Smith if the deal is right.”

Hearn’s Problem: Smith’s Future

It would be a surprise if Callum’s promoter Eddie Hearn pulls the trigger on this fight, because if he loses, he’ll miss out on all the millions he could get fighting the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev III winner. If you’re Hearn, do you really want to throw Smith in with Benavidez and lose out on that guaranteed giant payday against the Bivol-Beterbiev trilogy winner? I wouldn’t do it if I were Hearn.

Benavidez is taking a risk as well. If he gets knocked out with a body shot from Smith, he can say goodbye forever for the money he would get fighting Bivol or Beterbiev. Those guys are too old to wait for Benavidez to rebuild after a loss to Callum.

Additionally, Bivol has already shown that he wants nothing to do with fighting ‘The Mexican Monster.’ Some believe the sparring session they had had has something to do with his reluctance to face him. According to Benavidez, he lit Bivol up with a flurry of shots that had him hurt.

Smith’s age could be a factor in this fight. He’s 35 and is coming off a torturous battle against Joshua Buatsi last year. Callum won a 12-round unanimous decision, but there were moments in the fight where it looked like Buatsi was going to knock him out.

Buatsi is a bigger puncher than Benavidez. Still, the volume punching from ‘The Mexican Monster’ could be too much for Smith if he can’t subdue him with his body attack.