David Benavidez seemed surreal about his performance in his win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, claiming he “dominated every round” in his 175-pound debut.
(Photo by Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Was Benavidez really dominant?
Benavidez never seemed to be in control of the bout, succumbing after the sixth round and then being dominated by Gvozdyk from the seventh through the twelfth rounds.
It wasn't the best performance of Benavidez's career to date: He won the bout, defeating the 37-year-old Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) by a 12-round decision to claim the interim WBC light heavyweight title, but based on fans' views of the fight on social media, the judges' marks were way off.
The judges scored it 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109 for Benavidez, and while it looked like Benavidez barely won, it could have easily been a draw as he didn't come close in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh or twelfth rounds – all of which were one-sided scores in Gvozdyk's favor.
A change in focus: 175 or 168?
What was odd was that after the fight, Benavidez said he would bring back Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds. Unfortunately, that bout doesn't look like it's going to happen.
Benavidez's main goal in moving up a weight class to challenge for the WBC interim 175-pound title was to compete for the undisputed championship against the winner of the Oct. 12 bout between champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
So when Benavidez said he was returning to the 168-pound division, boxing fans were confused, unsure whether he had changed his mind about fighting the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol.
“Yeah, he's experienced. I went in there with cuts and injuries to both hands and still won every round. That says a lot about my game. I'm happy to continue competing in this weight class.” [175]”David Benavidez spoke at his post-fight press conference about his win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk last Saturday night in Las Vegas.”
“I won another belt, I'm going to take a break. Not either. Whether it's Canelo or whoever it is in the weight class, I'm going to show the world that I'm the Mexican Monster. It doesn't matter who's in front of me, I'm going to win,” Benavidez said.
