David Benavidez came out victorious on February 1 when he faced David Morrell at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The native of Phoenix, AZ claimed the win against his opponent from Cuba by unanimous decision with the scores 115-111, 115-111, and 118-108.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) remained undefeated, retained his interim WBC light heavyweight title, and landed the WBA “Regular” belt. Minneapolis, MN-based Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) suffered his first career defeat and lost the strap.
According to CompuBox, Morrell threw more punches (601 vs. 553), while Benavidez had the advantage in accuracy (40.5% vs. 27.5%) and shots landed (224 vs. 165).
In the 11th round, Morrell scored a knockdown, catching Benavidez off-balance with a counter right hand. Just before the round ended, as Benavidez threw a flurry of punches, Morrell landed a punch right after the bell and was subsequently deducted a point.
In the co-feature, Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA defeated Brandon Figueroa (25-2-1, 19 KOs) of Weslaco, TX by unanimous decision in a rematch. With the victory, the former unified super bantamweight titleholder claimed the WBC featherweight belt to become a two-weight champion.
Among other Benavidez vs Morrell results, former champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs) scored a unanimous decision against fellow Mexican Angel Fierro (22-2-2, 17 KOs) at super lightweight. In the PPV opener, Jesus Ramos Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) of Casa Grande, AZ stopped Dominican former unified super welterweight champion Jeison Rosario (24-5-2, 18 KOs) in the eighth round at middleweight.