David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) fought through an injured hand and cuts in his 12-round unanimous decision bout against Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
A tenacious victory hindered by a pre-existing injury
Benavidez overcame the injury to win the WBC interim light heavyweight title by scores of 117-110, 119-109, and 116-112. The injury occurred during training camp, but he fought hard, fought to win the bout, and came out victorious. The bout was close enough to be a draw, but the judges still awarded the victory to Benavidez by a one-sided score.
Those who bet on Benavidez knocking out Gvozdyk might not be happy to know that he fought while injured, as it would have been better for him to postpone the bout or disclose his physical issues beforehand.
This wasn't the Benavidez performance boxing fans are used to seeing because he didn't show his usual dominance against a fighter who was well-vetted and deemed not a threat to beat him, a guy who, if healthy, he would have dominated.
Determination to continue fighting injury
“Of course I was worried. I started camp a month and a half ago. I ruptured a tendon. They told me it wouldn't heal in time. They said it would take at least three months. I said, 'I don't care. I'll keep fighting. I'll keep training,'” Benavidez told media at his post-fight press conference, discussing the tendon injury and cut he sustained in his right hand during training camp leading up to his bout with Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
“And that hurt my hand. [left]' And I said, 'No, I can't do that. I'm going to keep fighting.' Three weeks ago, I was sparring and I was dominating three sparring partners, but I got cut in the last round. I was really worried.
“I didn't think I'd make it this far, but my dad told me, 'The wound isn't too bad, you can keep going.' I wanted to play in this match so I put my trust in God. I didn't want to miss this event. It's a big moment for the fans so I didn't want to miss them.”
“This was PBC's biggest event of the year and I said, 'Enough is enough, I'm going to keep training.' I got to this fight and won despite having a bit of an injury,” Benavidez said.
