A few weeks ago, when I was first told that Benavidez Jr would be facing Mauricio Herrera in December, I was shocked, fast forward to today & I still am. For starters, Herrera usually gets avoided for the simple fact that it is extremely difficult to look good against his style. Against Herrera, as Danny Garcia found out in a rather slap on the face wake up manner, it?s quite a task to convincingly beat Herrera. His double and triple jabs coming from awkward angles keep poking at you to throw your rhythm off, to get you from getting off. One needs timing, quickness, and the ability to box in and out. But most importantly, the will to win must be at an all time high when going up against Herrera. Benavidez Jr. has an absolute beauty of a jab that is extremely quick and definitely gets your attention when it lands. His vicious blows to the body are also not to be forgotten about. Here in Phoenix, I have seen him spar many times, and he can box you in and out with much success because his feet are quicker than most think. For Benavidez Jr the time to show the boxing world that you are a true contender is NOW. It?s most definitely a major step up bout for Jose, but at the same time it could be viewed by many as a set up type of test. A test to see if he is worth investing more money, time, and energy into. Is the orange worth the squeeze? That my friends is the reality of it all, it may seem harsh to most but this is the hurt business! Many lies get spread behind the scenes, but in that ring, only truths get told. Is Benavidez Jr the truth? How will Herrera respond to facing a young fighter looking to step up in competition, opposed to facing the bigger names he is accustomed to facing? For Herrera, it appears to be a no win situation. I mean if he beats the kid, the critics (Twitterville) will say no big deal, he did what he was supposed to do. He beat an inexperienced kid stepping up to the plate who had yet to see the later innings. For Jose, you are stepping up to a bigger name, but one that is damn near impossible to look impressive against. If he experiences rocky spots in the fight, criticism will be that he is not yet fully ready to rumble with the lions. What puts me at ease, is that Top Rank has some of the best pair of eyes in the business. They always seem to know when is the absolute best time to discover if the orange is worth the squeeze. It all goes down on 12-13-14 on the Timothy Bradley vs Diego Chaves undercard in Las Vegas under the brightest of lights. The time to shine is now.
