It had already been known for a while that former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez would be looking to make his return on the March 16 PBC pay-per-view, but now an opponent has been named.
According to The Ring, Benavidez will face 168-pound contender J'Leon Love on the co-main event for the March event, set to take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The main event of that pay-per-view is Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia for the IBF welterweight title.
The winner of the fight could potentially make a run at the WBC super middleweight title, which is currently vacant. Benavidez was the previous titleholder, but after failing a drug test last year, the WBC named him "Champion in Recess," meaning the title would be vacant. Anthony Dirrell and Avni Yildirim are currently scheduled to fight for the title on February 23 in the main event of a PBC on FS1 card from Minneapolis.
Benavidez previously held the title from 2017 to 2018, making only one successful title defense. Benavidez, the youngest super middleweight world champion in history, won the title when he defeated Ronald Gavril in late 2017 and then defended the belt by beating Gavril in a rematch in February 2018.
Love is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Peter Quillin on a PBC card last August, his first defeat since losing to Rogelio Medina back in 2014. Since 2017, Love, ranked No. 15 by the IBF at 168 pounds, sports a 1-1-1 record.
