Former interim super lightweight world champion Jose Benavidez Jr. nearly retired undefeated, but not in the many manner most would want. Benavidez in the height of his professional run with Top Rank Inc. was shot in the leg in 2016 with doctors telling him he might never walk again. Two years later, Benavidez is not just fighting once again, but he is on the verge of fighting the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Terence Crawford on October 13th in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, which would be televised nationally on ESPN.

“…I know I am the stronger, the bigger fighter and if [I do fight Terence Crawford] the world will be shocked, because I will take him out.” said Jose Benavidez Jr. speaking to media last week at the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame Awards Banquet.

Benavidez is no stranger to Crawford as the two have a heated history partially shown in the video above. What makes the fight interesting as well is, Benavidez in many ways was supposed to be in the position Crawford is at based on his amateur career, but Crawford surpassed him thus far in the professional ranks.

“We are David going up against Goliath in every fight. We train so hard and we sacrifice so much that we’re going to get those wins, no matter who it is against.” said Benavidez’s little brother, WBC super middleweight world champion David Benavidez.

Benavidez’s story is one of overcoming adversity and defying the odds and if a fight between himself and Terence Crawford manifests, this will follow suit no different than the past few years of his life. Benavidez has looked as good as ever, knocking out an undefeated fighter in a round in his last outing.

“I have every possible tool in the book to beat [Terence Crawford]. I am stronger, I am bigger, I am a 147 pounder since I was 14-years-old, he was 135 lber who moved up. I have no doubt in my mind that I am going to beat him.”

Benavidez now is waiting to see if he will get the fight, to see if he can once again defy the odds.