Jose Benavidez Jr Boxing Record: An Underdog With Upside

When he enters the ring against Jermall Charlo Saturday night, Jose Benavidez Jr's boxing record will be 28-2-1 with 19 KO's.

Despite entering his fight with Jermall Charlo as a heavy +550 underdog, Jose Benavidez Jr — the 31-year-old fighting out of Phoenix, Arizona — is fully expecting to shock the world and deliver one of the biggest combat sports upsets we've seen in 2023. Then his younger brother, David Benavidez, will enter the ring one fight after him and aim to secure a knockout victory, as well.

We break down the Jose Benavidez Jr boxing record ahead of this weekend, and outline everything you need to know before this clash.

Jose Benavidez Jr Boxing Record: Toe to Toe with the Greats

While the Jose Benavidez Jr boxing record does have two losses, those came against two top tier boxers who there is no shame in losing to.

The first defeat of Benavidez Jr's professional boxing career came against Terence Crawford — the current No 1 pound for pound boxer in the world — back in 2018. Although Crawford did manage to finish Benavidez Jr in that fight, the KO didn't occur until the 12th round; which shows that Benavidez Jr managed to stay in the fight, literally and figuratively, against Crawford until the very last round. While there are very few moral victories in the ruthless sport of boxing, perhaps Benavidez Jr can feel good about that.

After nearly four full years without a professional fight after that Crawford loss, Jose Benavidez Jr returned to the ring in July 2022, in order to face Danny Garcia. In what was a back and forth, closely contested fight, Garcia ultimately came out with a majority decision victory against Benavidez Jr — causing Benavidez Jr ‘s professional record to drop to 27-2-1.

But then Benavidez Jr was able to stop his two-fight losing skid and get back to his winning ways against Sladan Janjanin just a few months ago, in August 2023.

Benavidez Jr looked like his vintage self in this fight, recording a knockdown in the third and another in the fourth round, and ultimately secured a KO against Janjanin — who, in all fairness,  didn't look like he belonged in the ring against Benavidez Jr — in the fifth round.

It was an impressive display for Benavidez Jr, who badly needed a win after two straight defeats; which has set him up for Saturday's fight against Jermall Charlo.

Upset Alert?

While the trash talk leading into the Charlo vs Benavidez Jr fight on Saturday has been entertaining, everyone knows that any bad blood will be settled once and for all when these two fighters enter the cage.

Although Benavidez Jr enters this fight as a sizable +550 underdog, if he is able to start the fight fast, take advantage of Charlo's generally passive, wait-and-see approach to the early rounds, and cause damage early on, he might be able to produce the shocking upset.

What's for sure is that Jose Benavidez Jr definitely has enough power to put Charlo's lights out — proven by the 19 KO's on his professional record. Perhaps by the time Benavidez Jr leaves the ring on Saturday, that number will have risen to 20.