Report: Anthony Dirrell Set To Face David Benavidez In September
Anthony Dirrell’s next fight could be against former world champion David Benavidez.
According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, Dirrell will defend his WBC super middleweight title against Benavidez sometime in late September in Los Angeles. No further details on if the fight would be part of an undercard or if it will headline its own PBC show.
Sources tell The Athletic that David Benavidez and Anthony Dirrell are set to fight in late September in L.A. Benavidez will look to reclaim the 168-pound strap that he lost when he tested positive for cocaine last year. Benavidez, at 22, one of fastest-rising stars in boxing
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) June 12, 2019
Back in late 2018, Benavidez was stripped of the title and named “Champion in Recess” by the WBC for failing a drug test. The title was then vacant and Benavidez was suspended for around half a year. Benavidez did return to action in March when he defeated J’Leon Love in two rounds on the pay-per-view portion of the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia IBF welterweight title fight at AT&T Stadium.
Meanwhile, Dirrell won the WBC title in February thanks to a technical decision win against Avni Yildirim. The fight went to the scorecards after Dirrell was cut and was deemed unable to fight any further in the middle of the 10th round. Despite the round not being completed, it was still scored by all three judges and Dirrell came out on top with two of the three scores being 96-94 in favor of the new champion.
Yildirim protested the way in which the fight ended and so the WBC ruled that Dirrell would fight Benavidez next as Benavidez is owed a title shot as the “Champion in Recess” but Yildirim would then face the winner afterwards.
