David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) won a tougher than expected twelve round unanimous decision over Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) to win the WBC light heavyweight title on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
The fight was the debut for the 27-year-old Benavidez, who moved up from super middleweight to chase the belts at 175, but it was not the effort that fans had expected from him.
Benavidez looked exhausted after six rounds and caved in completely from that point on, getting outboxed and out-punched by the 37-year-old Gvozdyk. The scores were 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109.
The scoring was very wide for a fight that appeared to be knotted up 6-6 in reality at the end, but the judges gave it to the more popular guy, Benavidez.
Gvozdyk, who came out of a four-year retirement last year, didn’t look great tonight; with his once-vaunted punching power and mobility gone, the only thing left was his excellent jab and punch resistance.
Benavidez will need to make a big decision about whether to stay at light heavyweight because, based on this performance, he stands no chance of beating the champions Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol. Of course, with the way the judges scored the fight tonight, Benavidez would have a great chance of defeating both champions.
Last Updated on 06/15/2024
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