[3] His older brother, José Benavidez Jr., is also a professional boxer who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim welterweight title.

[4] Benavidez made his pro debut at the age of 16, defeating Erasmo Moreno by knockout in one round in Puerto Peñasco.

Benavidez won the NABF Junior light heavyweight title, his first belt, against Rollin Williams in April 2015.

[7] Benavidez next fought on April 30 on the undercard of Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto II at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

After 1 minute and 30 seconds of round 7, the crowd booed as referee Shada Murdaugh stopped the fight due to the amount of punishment Ntetu had taken.

[10][11] In July 2015, PBC announced Benavidez would next fight on ESPN against contender Denis Douglin (20-4, 13 KOs) in his first 10-round bout on August 5 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[14][15] Benavidez's first bout of 2017 took place on January 28 on the Carl Frampton vs. Léo Santa Cruz II undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, against fellow prospect Sherali Mamajonov (14–1, 7 KOs).

[20][21] Following his draw against James DeGale, Badou Jack vacated his WBC super middleweight title in order to fight at light heavyweight.

The WBC ordered a match between Callum Smith and Anthony Dirrell, with the winner taking the vacant world title.

Instead, Benavidez would face Romanian contender Ronald Gavril (18-1, 14 KOs) on September 8 for the world title at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Nevada.

[28] In December 2017, a deal was close to being finalized for the rematch to take place on the undercard of Danny García vs. Brandon Ríos on Showtime on February 17, 2018.

Benavidez reduced the number of shots he threw in the final round, which allowed Gavril to give him some, but little trouble.

[34] On September 18, 2018, it was reported that Benavidez had tested positive for cocaine from a urine sample collected on August 27 by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA).

According to sources in Mexico back on May 17, 2018, before the Mexican Monster was stripped of his world champion status, a deal was close to being reached for Benavidez to defend his WBC title against Russian boxer Matt Korobov (28–1, 14 KOs) on the Mikey Garcia vs. Robert Easter Jr. lightweight unification under-card on July 28 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

[39][40][41] On June 21, it was reported a deal had been reached for Benavidez to defend his WBC title against mandatory challenger Anthony Dirrell (32–1–1, 24 KOs).

[44] And finally on Sep 28, 2019, at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S., Benavidez and Direll found themselves at opposite ends of the ring.

[46] On July 14, 2021, Showtime announced that Benavidez was scheduled for an August 28 bout against former titlist José Uzcátegui at the Phoenix Suns Arena.

[47] However, on October 28, Uzcátegui was pulled from the fight due to failing a drug test, and was replaced by Kyrone Davis [48] who he would go on to defeat by way of technical knock out in the 7th round of their scheduled 10-round bout.

[49] On January 25, 2023, it was announced that Benavidez would be making the first defense of his WBC interim super middleweight title against former IBF world champion, Caleb Plant.

[50] On the night, Benavidez started slow, before relentlessly pressuring Plant in the second half of the fight with power punches to break down his opponent and win a unanimous decision, with judges' scorecards of 117–111, 116–112 and 115–113.

"[51] The victory meant that Benavidez retained his undefeated record and his position as the WBC's mandatory challenger for the undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo Álvarez.

[52] Marking the second defense of his WBC interim super-middleweight title, Benavidez clashed with southpaw phenom and former WBO champion in the light-middleweight and middleweight divisions Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade on Nov 25, 2023 at the Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Andrade made a good account of himself by firing back as often and as much as he could against Benavidez's signature forward-pressure.

Benavidez faced Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the interim WBC light heavyweight title at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on June 15, 2024, winning the bout via unanimous decision.

[53] On October 8, 2024 it was announced that Benavidez would face David Morell, who at that time held WBA (Regular) light heavyweight title.