David Benavidez begins the road back against J’Leon Love on March 16

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Jan

This coming year stands as an opportunity for a reset for 22-year-old David Benavidez.

The hitter, who is slated to appear on the March 16 Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia card in Texas, held the WBC 168 pound crown before the strap was removed from his waist for a positive test for a banned substance during an out-of-competition VADA test in September, and now he is looking to to re-climb the ladder.

The 20-0 boxer, handled by Sampson Lewkowicz, owns 17 KOs to his credit; he smashed his way onto radar screens as a teenage phenom, and then made the leap to wider acclaim by taking out ex-title challenger Porky Medina and then taking a vacant crown with a win over Ronald Gavril.

He defended the bauble against Gavril in February 2018, but hit a speed-bump when a testing specimen showed traces of cocaine in his system. He then apologized for the youthful transgression and promised to re-dedicate himself to the craft.

The pugilist, younger bro to former title challenger Jose Benavidez, gloves up on the Spence-Garcia PPV.

His bout will be shown on the telecast, and a source tells us that he will stand across from vet J’Leon Love.

Love, 31, has a record of 24-2-1 (13 KOs) and is coming off of a unanimous decision against Peter Quillin in August.