Behind a sustained body assault and a brutal power stroke, David Benavidez surpassed David Morrell to make a unanimous decision in a battle of the T-T-Mobile Titles Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.
The confrontation between the heated rivals was an entertaining battle of Putnours, but it would be the precision, the assault and the volume of Benavidez which won him the victory.
Benavidez, 28, said on several occasions to his opponent that the punch of the body would be the key to picking up a stop. But it was Benavidez who would taste the canvas in the 11th round when a right hand exceeded it. Unfortunately for Morrell, a punch point was deducted after the bell during a furious exchange.
The Knockdown was too little, too late while Benavidez stacked an insurmountable lead to keep his temporary WBC title and claim the title “regular” WBA of Morrell. The judges marked the fight 115-111, 115-111 and 118-108.
“This is the world of the monster,” said Benavidez, nicknamed “the Mexican monster,” said Morrell saying that he did not believe in monsters in the preparation of the fight. “You know what it is, but a big cry to Morrell. He had a difficult test. I knew he was going to be a hard fighter. That is why I prepared myself so hard for that. I’m just Happy people have been able to get a good show tonight.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KB) spent a large part of the fight on the front foot, applying pressure and piercing the Cuban on the body. Morrell (11-1) chose to stand in front of Benavidez rather than using his movement to prevent his rival from painting him against the strings. Things were competitive early, but Benavidez started to grow in the middle of the middle when he delivered a supported body assault and pierced Morrell with lead uppercuts.
In turn 7, Benavidez had already landed more punches on Morrell than any previous opponent of Morrell and slipped into a pumping groove at once, to slam in the torso of Morrell And launch an uppercut in mind. Morrell was fighting in jerks and would succeed in getting heavy boost, but Benavidez’s chin has exceptionally resisted.
Just as Benavidez seemed to be too comfortable, Morrell took him off guard during the 11th round with a sweeping hook which deposited Benavidez for the second time in his career. Although the knockdown does not seem injured in Benavidez, the punch after the bell certainly drew its attention.
“I was not really injured, but it was after the bell,” said Benavidez. “The little bulls — Knockdown took me into account. That’s what it is. But as I said, it was a good fight.”
Benavidez to land 224 of the 553 punches (41%) at 165 out of 601 from Morrell (27%). But it would be the 76 punches on the body landed by Benavidez which would allow him to take control. Morrell fought valiantly but was mastered when he punched than Benavidez but landed much less frequency.
Former double champion of average WBC, Benavidez, had long sought a fight with Canelo Alvarez in what would be one of the biggest battles that can be made of boxing. But Alvarez has shown little interest in the fight, which led Benavidez to switch to light heavy goods vehicles to continue the world titles in a new weight class.
Benavidez is online to face the winner of the revenge of the light heavyweight title on February 22 between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“It is the biggest (victory of my career) so far because watching all the people who have come out and have supported me,” said Benavidez. “I just want to be the best of my time, and who they need to fight then, I want to unify the four titles, so it’s the following.”