David Benavidez walked away with the win on February 1, when he faced David Morrell at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The pair squared off in a light heavyweight contest with two belts on the line.
The scheduled 12-round matchup went the full distance. In the 11th round, Benavidez, who prior to the fight said he was going to dominate Morrell, went down, and referee Thomas Taylor gave him an eight-count. At the end of the round, the native of Phoenix, AZ tried to pay his opponent back with a flurry of punches. As the bell rang, the Cuban southpaw threw a right hook, for which he was deducted a point.
In the end, two judges scored the fight 115-111, while one judge had it 118-108, all in favor of Benavidez.
Both fighters entered the ring undefeated. With the victory by unanimous decision, former two-time super middleweight champion Benavidez improved to 30-0, 24 KOs, and remained unbeaten. The 28-year-old retained his interim WBC 175-pound title and claimed the WBA “Regular” belt.
“This is ‘El Monstro’s’ world,” Benavidez said at the post-fight press conference. “Shout out to Morrell, I knew he’d be tough and that’s why I prepared so hard for this. I’m happy we were able to give the fans a great show tonight.”
“I wasn’t surprised by anything he did because I knew he was a great fighter and that I had to prepare for everything. I knew my defense had to be good. I actually thought he’d hit harder once we were in here. He was easier to hit than I expected. Every opportunity that I saw, I went for it.”
Morrell dropped to 11-1, 9 KOs. The Minneapolis, MN-based 27-year-old suffered his first career defeat and lost his strap.
“It was a good fight,” said Morrell. “This is boxing, some days you win and some days you lose. Tonight was my turn. I’m young and I’ll keep pushing for another opportunity.”
David Benavidez also earned his shot to challenge for the division’s undisputed championship. The title is on the line in the rematch between champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol on February 22.
“I just want to be the best of my era,” Benavidez said. “Whoever I need to fight next, I’ll be ready for them. I want to unify all four titles, so if that’s next, then that’s next.”
“It was never bad blood for me. This moment feels great because we were able to give everyone a good show. I’m going to work my way back. We’ll watch this fight and learn from what I didn’t do well. We’ll practice more and train harder and earn another fight against Benavidez. I know I can beat him.”