Joseph Benavidez is in a nice place in his fighting life. Young enough to compete with and beat the best flyweights in the world, and old enough to remember the days when being a pro fighter wasn’t exactly the most glamorous profession.
“My first fights, everything was hard,” said the 34-year-old contender. “Up until my fight in Japan (against Junya Kodo in 2008), I was wearing underwear that I bought at Target to fight in. (Laughs) I didn’t have anything printed on them or anything. I would literally buy compression underwear and use them.”
There were no Reebok deals, no bright lights, no national television exposure.