Cleveland Phenom Dante Benjamin Jr. Inks Promotional Contract with Top Rank

Dante “Free Smoke” Benjamin Jr., the Cleveland-born light heavyweight star
who won seven national titles as an amateur, has signed a multi-year
promotional contract with Top Rank. The 19-year-old will make his
professional debut in a four-round bout Saturday, Jan. 29 on the Robson
Conceição-Xavier Martinez undercard in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Benjamin is the latest young talent from Cleveland to sign with Top Rank,
joining 17-year-old lightweight Abdullah Mason (1-0, 1 KO) and welterweight
U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson (1-0, 1 KO).

“Dante Benjamin Jr. has the makeup and the amateur pedigree to be a
tremendous professional,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Cleveland has
produced some of our nation’s top emerging fighters, and I look forward to
Dante, Tiger and Abdullah bringing big-time boxing to their city for years
come.”

“I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity. Being a professional
boxer at the highest level is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a
kid,” Benjamin said. “I’m living out one of my dreams, and I am driven to
win a world title. I’m proud to represent my city. I’m hungry to be great,
and that’s why I bust my butt in the gym every day.”

Benjamin starred for USA Boxing, notching more than 100 amateur victories
and winning gold at the 2016 and 2017 Junior Open Championships, 2018 Youth
National Championships, and the 2019 Emil Jechev Memorial Tournament in
Botevgrad, Bulgaria. He first walked into an East Cleveland boxing gym at
the age of 7, where he met noted trainer Renard Safo. More than a decade
later, Safo is still Benjamin’s head trainer.

Benjamin embarks on his professional journey with a heavy heart. His
father, Dante Benjamin Sr., battled kidney disease for a decade before
passing away last March at 49. It was Benjamin Sr. who brought his son to
Safo’s gym and encouraged him to continue after early struggles in
sparring. Benjamin won his first Silver Gloves title roughly one year after
picking up the gloves.

Benjamin said, “My father taught me how to work. He got me into boxing, and
when times got hard, he still took me to the gym every day. Before he
passed away, we talked about me turning pro. If he was still here, I know
he’d be proud of me.”