Can Xu Left Reeling After Upset Loss to Brandon Benitez
At the White Sands Event Center in Plant City, Florida, Brandon Benitez (19-2, 7 KOs) scored a surprising split-decision victory over ex-WBA featherweight Regular champ Can Xu (18-4, 3 KOs). The scores were 96-94, 96-94 for Benitez and 97-93 for Xu.
It was Xu who started as the aggressor, but Benitez did the majority of the scoring in the early rounds. The 24-year-old from Queretaro, Mexico was able to land often with the counter and lead right hands, leaving Xu’s nose bloody in the second round. Xu picked up the pace in the second half of the fight. Benitez’s punch output decreased, but the points-lead he accumulated during the early portion of the contest was too much for Xu to overcome.
This is a devastating loss for Xu. It was his first time in the ring since losing the WBA strap by twelfth-round TKO to Leigh Wood in August 2021. There had been some rough moments for Xu in the months following that defeat.
According to the boxing source, Asian Boxing, the resident of Beijing, China went into a bout of depression. He had hoped a win over Benitez would be the kickstart of a climb back to a world title shot. Instead, this is another shot to his psyche.
TIME TO LOOK AT THE MAN IN THE MIRROR
Only 28, Xu has the time to work through this. But boxing is just as much mental as it is physical. If you don’t have the mental strength to overcome, you are just as good as done. For Xu, he is at a true crossroads in his career. Should he continue fighting, he has to start from the bottom. Does he have it in him to dig out of this current hole? At this point, one has to wonder whether his psyche can recover.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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