Former world boxing champion Xu Can returns from injury to fight Mexican star in the United States during the National DayFly into the homes of ordinary people
Caption: Xu Can’s return to the ring is the same as the official image below
On October 7th, former WBA featherweight world champion Xu Can will return to the ring to face Mexican star Brandon Benitez. The match will be held in Tampa, Florida, USA, and the two will have a 10-round bout at featherweight 126 pounds. “This is my return after being away from the arena for more than a year. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for too long,” said Xu Can, known as the “monster”, his eyes flashing with a desire to fight.
Xu Can’s last battle was on August 1, 2021. That night, he fought 12 rounds with Englishman Leigh Wood, and finally lost the world championship gold belt by TKO. Xu Can originally planned to return on May 20 this year, but because of a rib injury, the match had to be postponed.
In the year that he lost the “halo” of the boxing champion, Xu Can slowed down the frequency of updating social media and gradually faded out of the field of sports fans. “I let myself be silent for a while. I watched the video repeatedly, reflected on my inadequacies, and adjusted my mentality after the defeat.”
In early August this year, Xu Can had a video call with legendary boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. During the call, the latter asked Xu Can if he was willing to fight Leigh Wood again. Xu Can firmly replied that Wood’s existence was the biggest motivation for him to choose to stick to it, and he hoped to complete his revenge one day. “There is an old saying in China, where you fall, you must get up from there.” Xu Can said that he wanted to return to a better state through practical actions. Now, he hopes to beat Benitez in the best possible way to get his name back in the world rankings.
Up to now, two of the top three Chinese boxing P4P players have played overseas this year: on May 20, Meng Fanlong, a light heavyweight, lost to former world champion Jean Pascal by unanimous 12-round decision in Miami; 8 On the 21st, heavyweight Zhang Zhilei lost to Hegovic by unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia in 12 rounds, and was not qualified to challenge for the heavyweight champion. In these two very crucial battles, Meng Fanlong and Zhang Zhilei both suffered losses.
However, what is more worrying than losing the match is that there are only 107 active registered professional boxers in China, an eight-year low. Just six months ago, the number was 242. Professional boxing is gradually dying in China, and the lack of fresh blood has become obvious. The moment can be described as the darkest moment for professional boxing in China.
This year, when Xu Can returned to Kunming to visit his parents, he happened to chat with several local young boxers. More than one person once said to him, “I can’t hold it anymore, I’m about to give up boxing.” Xu Can felt very uncomfortable after hearing these words. When he won the championship in Houston, many people saw hope. However, only three years later, Chinese professional boxing is once again filled with decline. “No matter how difficult it is, no matter how bad the general environment is, I have to persevere and I must take the lead and set an example.” Xu Can said.
Liu Gang, the chief promoter of boxing power, said that Xu Can’s fight against Benitez this time is of great significance: first, Xu Can has to prove that he is still competitive at this level; second, this victory will inspire Chinese professional boxing and Employee morale.
The 24-year-old Brandon Benitez, nicknamed the “Cub”, currently has a professional record of 18 wins and 2 losses, and KO opponents in 7 games. Benitez’s two defeats were all lost by KO, but he recently won 4 consecutive victories, and his state has recovered to a certain extent, and threatened to make people shine through the contest with Xu Can. “I’m very excited to play against Xu Can, and I can’t wait to compete with the former world champion,” Benitez said.
Xu Can admitted that he has learned a lot of lessons and experience in the game with Wood, and is eager to show it as much as possible through the October game. “I am increasing the reserves in the arsenal, not only fighting on the inside, but also making good use of my distance advantage to play my height and wingspan.”
Xu Can is 28 years old this year and is in his prime. After more than a year of hiatus, he is eager to make a comeback.Shocking the throne of the world boxing champion is stillXu CanThe first and only goal, and the game against Benitez was the first step to regaining lost ground. Xu Can knew that if he wanted to challenge the boxing champion again, he could not make mistakes in any of the next matches, and the fault tolerance rate was almost zero.
The match will be broadcast at 22:00 on October 7th, Beijing time, and domestic boxing fans can watch it for free by downloading the “KOTV” App. It is worth mentioning that the overseas competition party changed the matchup originally scheduled for the morning of the 8th to the evening of the 7th. Former light heavyweight world champion and boxing commentator Anthony Taffer said that the rare arrangement of the match in the morning of US time is to ensure that Chinese boxing fans can smoothly watch Xu Can’s match during the prime time of the National Day holiday. . Taffer said: “We hope that Chinese boxing fans can give Xu Can and Chinese professional boxing more support, and we also look forward to more Chinese boxers participating in high-quality events in the future.”
(Xinmin Evening News reporter Guan Yin)
Editor: Zhao Yue
