David Benavidez to fight Avni Yildirim on Jan. 25, 2020
WBC World Super Middleweight champion David Benavidez (22-0, 19 KO’s) will make the first defense of his second reign as champion against WBC mandatory super middleweight challenger Avni Yildirim (21-2, 12 KO’s) on January 25, 2020, according to Sampson Lewkowicz, Benavidez’s promoter. There is no official location for the bout at the time of this writing. However, it will air on either Fox Sports or Fox Sports PPV.
To say there has been drama behind the scenes before the announcement of this fight is an understatement. Lewkowicz announced Yildirim next following Benavidez’s win over Anthony Dirrell to reclaim the WBC title on September 28, 2019.
However, on October 3, the WBC reported Yildirim failed a VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) drug test for two banned performance-enhancing substances; DHCMT and methylclostebol.
But wait, there’s more. On October 19, the WBC decided to clear the mandatory of any wrongdoing. Upon further investigation, the sanctioning body put out the following announcement:
“[…] that Mr. Yildirim did not ingest or become exposed to a banned substance knowledgeably or with a performance enhancement intention. Instead, Mr. Yildirim unintentionally and inadvertently became exposed to a substance as part of a muscular inflammation therapy he received in Germany, which was fully confirmed during the investigation. Credible evidence was presented that the source of the banned substance was a specific contaminated product that was administered to Mr. Yildirim.”
With the WBC’s findings and ruling, it paved the way for this bout to happen. Stay tuned to 3KingsBoxing for further details.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
