David Benavidez is one badd, badd man. Quite possibly, the baddest super middleweight on the planet.
Benavidez drowned David Lemieux out with a diverse offering of punches en route to a third-round corner stoppage at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. on Saturday night.
With the TKO victory, Benavidez improved to 26-0 with 23 knockouts, capturing the interim WBC super-middleweight title in the process and inching one step closer to a possible mega clash with undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, former champ Caleb Plant or even WBC middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo.
"I'm waiting for them to send me the contract," Benavidez told Showtime's Jim Gray. "Them b—es know what's up. I'm right here waiting for them."
Lemieux set the tone by showing that he'd engage in a fire fight with Benavidez and for at least part of the first round, it seemed to be working. However, that took a drastic turn when Benavidez caught Lemieux with a devastating left hook, which put the Canadian on wobbly legs and left him open to a barrage of punches. Referee Harvey Dock took a close look as Lemieux was saved by the bell. Dock later told Showtime's Jim Gray that he would've stopped the fight if there were a few more seconds on the clock in that first frame.
The second round had Benavidez catching Lemieux with a right-left combination that put the veteran on his backside through the ropes and nearly out of the ring.
Lemieux showed plenty of grit surviving that round too, but another stinging right-left combination had his corner stopping the bout in the third.
"Mike Tyson gave me that name — 'The Mexican Monster,'" Benavidez told Gray. "What do you think I'm going to do?"
Here's how the entire Benavidez-Lemieux main card went.