Photos: Sumio Yamada
Debuting at light heavyweight, unbeaten David “El Monstro” Benavídez (29-0, 24 KOs) went the full twelve against former world champion Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) in a matchup for the WBC interim light heavyweight title on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Benavides took the fight to Gvozdyk and won pretty much every round. Scores were 116-112, 117-111, 119-109.
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Canelo beats Benavides EASILY.
Benavides could not knock out a 40 year old guy.
NOBODY BEATS CANELO @ 168LBS. NOBODY!!
Canelo couldnt knock out 40 year old Mosley, 40 year old GGG or near 40 year old Cotto.
Benavidez couldn’t KO Plant yet Canelo did. Canelo also KO Kovalez who was older yes but was champion and was coming off a KO win himself. Canelo lost to Bivol but he held his own it was a close fight. He lost to Bivol by 2 rounds 115-113 on all 3 scorecards. Light Heavyweight even though he has had some success there was just too for him. A weight class he don’t belong. You can’t discredit him for trying to be great. No one is knocking GGG out the man was a great fighter and Canelo still went 2-0-1 against him. All that matters is that if you win and Canelo wins. Lara, Trout, Cotto, Mosley, GGG, Jacobs, Plant, Saunders, Callum Smith, Kovalev, Charlo, Munguia the man has a HOF resume. He defeated 3 prime undefeated champions to become undisputed in 11 months. Each of those wins everyone bet against Canelo. They were either too big, strong or fast for him yet Canelo dismantled them all. Canelo has pretty much always been at a disadvantage. He’s a smaller Super Middleweight everyone has size and reach against him. David Benavidez was not impressive and I can tell you right now Bivol or Beterbieve can beat him. I don’t see any reason why Canelo can’t beat Benavidez.
You said everyone betted against Canelo. Are you sure about that? Are you new to the sport of boxing? Canelo was never the underdog in those 3 fights you’re speaking on….
Neither did he win with GGG
Fans on boxrec counted the fight in 2018 as 116-114 in favour of GGG…
and 116-112 in 2017, that means that GGG “still went” 2-1 vs Canelo
Bivol dominated him every roundsthose scorecards were BS
2-0-1 on paper. Not really
All this talk about who couldn’t knock out who, etc, etc,. The REAL talk should be who’s ducking who. Tank just about went thru Martin and anybody they put in front of him. On the other hand, 98% of the time Team Canelo analyzes he next opponent like it were a chess match AND puts in contract all other kinds of stipulations (nothing off the table) to tilt the whole outcome in his favor. So don’t ask me to use a standard of measuring a boxer’s performance, unless you’re willing to use the same standard for all boxers.
And lost badly to a almost 40 year old smaller Mayweather
But these fights were not at 168 lbs where canelo performs better
Wait until the buzz subsides before posting. This is one you’ll regret in the morning because you can’t delete it.
we will NOT see canelo-benavides. unless….
Delusional. Benavidez beats coward canelo all day, but we will never see it, so all you canelo riding on his nuts keep talking because you know that fight ain’t happening. Benavidez beats a solid guy tonight and just because he didn’t knock him down or out means absolutely nothing. Canelo will be fighting inexperienced and over hyped berlanga next.
All I wanna say is David Benavidez… this is your king?! This is your Monster?! That’s easy money for Canelo Alvarez! That’s easy money for Dmitry Bivol! That’s easy money for Artur Beterbieve! David Benavidez is a good fighter, he ain’t no great fighter. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not hating. I’m not taking anything away from him. All I’m saying is that we need to see Canelo vs Benavidez so we can end all this craziness once and for all. We can end all this because Canelo Alvarez cooks this boy. David Benavidez your not beating Beterbiev, your not beating Bivol and your not beating Canelo. He’s trapped! He’s trapped! He has no where to run! Nowhere to hide! He has nowhere to go! When he partitions to be the mandatory at 175 or 168 he’s getting cooked either way. He better go for the Canelo money fight because if he stays at 175 they putting his ass to sleep. Keep that same energy!!! He fought a old over the hill 37-year old and looked poor doing it. Wait until he finally fights an elite fighter and watch what happens.
Douglas are you trying to convince yourself or others, not sure. Keep smoking the canelo tainted meat because that fight ain’t happening. Bivol or beterbiev is a whole another talk show. We talking about canelo.
Canelo will smoke Benavidez. This fight was a snooze fest. He did not hurt Gvodzyk whatsoever. It was a boring ass fight. His eye was even swollen by Gvozdyk and he really didn’t do anything. If he stays at 175 Bivol will dominate him and Beterbieve will put the man to sleep. Canelo will win by a late stoppage. David Benavidez I’m telling you right now he’s overrated.
how long have you been an idiot?
Benavidez needs to get another nickname. Mexican Monster? He doesn’t even look Mexican, probably because he’s half-Equadorian. That would be like calling Keith Thurman the Polish Monster because he’s half-Polish!
BS you Pan and why canelo dont like to fight Benavidez if really he won the fight?
No se te entiende Ni Madre amigo.
David Benavidez will beat Canelo, if Canelo ever gets the balls to fight him, which I doubt.
Benavidez, stay away from Berteviev and Bivol. Honestly, after watching this, I think Canelo wins if they fight ♂️
Beterbiev kod a prime Gvodzyk..this guy in retirement form
Gvozdyk is much better than he’s given credit for. Has a bit of everything AND did not take damage for 4 years while staying in excellent shape. No one is taking him out easy unless you have brutal punching power. A win is a win and Benavides stays busy. It doesn’t have to be a mage fight every time out.
Benavides’ offense was solid at 175, but not destructive like 168. While at 175, Benavides will have to provide more head movements, and he needs a couple of fights to physically settle at 175.
I used to hope only for Canelo/Benavidez at 168, but now, I guess I can deal with them fighting at 175.
The boxing world will wait for Canelo’s next move. Maybe Canelo will fight Benavidez at 175. A fight at 168 is much better, though. I hate to say this, but for whatever reason(s), Canelo will look for another opponent.
No need to hate the truth. That’s a stylistic nightmare for Alvarez. He’ll avoid this like the bat-flu.
Good win for Benavidez, Gvozdyk is a very good fighter, very strong and very disciplined.
Gvozdyk was beating Beterbiev and actually rocked him a few times before he was stopped himself. Yet he couldnt hurt Benavidez and lost a clear decision to el MOUSTRO.
I give Benavidez an 8.5 for this win, he can still improve quite a bit.
Maybe if Benavidez gets the full belt or a full belt, Canelo and him can fight for it but make the fight at 169 lbs, 1 above the super middle limit and Canelo can get that belt at 175.
I guess Teddy Atlas was wrong again.
What did Teddy said wrongly?
Benavides may have dominated this fight, but it’s hard to see the guy who was in the ring tonight beating any of the champions at 175.
Its not hard to see at all ,he is not beating any of the Champs.
Benavidez can never beat Canelo-and as for Beterbiev -he will KO Benavidez within six
Benavidez vs Bivol next to get Benavidez out. He’ll get schooled real quick.
Canelo will fight him at 175, not 168. Same reason Canelo didn’t want the Bivol rematch to be at 168 like Bivol wants. At 168 against either he risks his belts. At 175 even if Canelo loses he doesn’t lose his 168 belts. Nothing he saw tonight makes him think he can’t beat Benavidez. He wants the 175 belt, and now Benavidez has “one”. Makes it worth a bit more money. Not the 200m he shouted for but probably a good 50 in Saudi.
At no point during this fight did Benavidez hurt Gvozdyk…unless I missed something. So, let’s see what happens when he faces a young, hungry talented light heavyweight!
Canelo vs Ryder…
The best boxers win even when they have a mediocre night. Benavidez won without impressing. He got the job done but no more than that.
Can’t really see how Benavidez could beat Canelo. I think he is exposing himself, his guard fails from time to time and against Canelo that’s no good.
Thought Gvozdyk lacked the sting, quickness and footwork although the defensive worked quite well.
Benavidez is an exceptional boxer but I think he is a it too predictable and not always very creative. I think that can be to his disadvantage when facing the very best.
People i’m reading the comments and most kick off with the power concerns
And I agree to a point, this match was a great introduction for David into the LHW
He went up against a tough opponent a bigger one than him
Gvozdyk is a top LHW and creditable
If you know you know…styles make fights
That simple, no need to get all exhausted in comparing how one guy did against common opponents
Benavidez got hit s lot but he handled the power of Gvozdyk well
His speed is still there along with his volume punching and pressure
The power is though was not effective in this fight as much, but it is his first test at higher weight
Overall great showing for David and I just don’t like that he said he will be campaigning at both 168 and 175
Trust me the going up and down in weight can catch up with you and can affect your performance
Id like for him to settle at LHW and continue his career on the upper divisions if later he has to make a weight division change
Benavidez power did not carry with the big boys his own size! He hit gvozyk with everything he had, he was a punching bag with flushed hard head shots and still didn’t hurt him or knock him out! Gvozyk has no pop in any of his punches at all! Can’t wait for bivol and or berteviev to face benavidez! This boys fon’t play! Forger cabelo fight unless $200 million on the table!
It’s funny. Govodyk had only been stopped and lost once to Beterbuev, arguably the hardest puncher in boxing. Benavidez is a volume puncher. I expected this fight to go the distance. I actually expected Govodyk to make it more competitive. Benavidez won most of the rounds. I guess when they hype you up and you don’t score a KO, the vultures come out the next day with the criticism. The same thing happened to Boots Ennis when he couldn’t KO that Karen guy. We every round but was being criticized for it. News flash. You can’t knock everyone out!
Nobody mentioned, but the defence of Bemavidez was excellent, I hadn’t noticed any 100% clear shots of Gvozdik… all with some gloves protection… Probably it was the main assignment, i.e. to test defence during 12 rounds in a new division… As to Alexander… I’m not sure that firing of all Ukrainian coaches worked out… Usik, Berinchyk and Lomo are keeping mostly Ukrainian teams
I think Benavidez has one or two years left campaigning at 168. He looked great at LHW, but at 27 yrs old the clock is ticking to get that opportunity to regain his 168 WBC belt.
This fight showed a Benavidez with improved defense, he still walked down his man, still has that ability to throw in bunches and knows how to work the body. Gvozdyk was a good step up for Benavidez to taste the LHW division.
The only criticism I have for Benavidez is him gassing out into the 8th round onward. He looked fatigued and Gvozdyk taking some of those later rounds.
If he is gunning for the winner of Bivol vs Beterbiev, I think he makes interesting, but should face another common opponent first, maybe Zurdo Ramirez next.
wow. the Douglas character posted the most passionate bisexual comment ever. He says that what the judges says is true about Canelo. Seriously? in a Man’s card Canelo lost to GGG, got schooled by Bivol and heck, Floyd lost to Jose Luis Castillo (just for reference). Roy Jones pulverized the Korean at the Olympics and “the judges” gave it to the Korean. Debuting at light heavy and Benavides won. Canelo got DESTROYED. bro (or sister? sorry, not into gay pronouns ), take it easy. I sure hope you don’t have kids. LOL. Good fight. And Davis STILL top dog
I feel Benavidez dominated the early rounds with hard shots, later rounds were still Benavidez but he gave up trying to ko the Ukrainian.
The Ukrainian came to finish the fight standing
A solid performance from David. Let’s stop f$%cking around and get the Canelo-Benavidez fight made.
I was at the fights last night. The Ukrainian had zero power in his punches, and Benavidez is lucky for that. And Benavidez will have a hard time stopping any decent light heavyweights. For the first time ever, Benavidez was not the biggest man in the ring, and it showed. Can you imagine Benavidez trying to go up against a 1983 version of Michael Spinks?
The Ukrainian was sparring, not fighting. What gives?
Actually, it almost looked like a sparring match. Very boring!
It was a solid performance by Benavidez in outboxing Gvozdyk but it wasn’t great. He can’t be expected to look sensational every time out. I don’t think Benavidez is used to opponents with the size and punch tolerance of Gvozdyk as he through everything but the kitchen sink at him and Gvozdyk wasn’t close to being on the floor. Gvozdyk, by his own admission, said he was in the best shape of his life for this fight and was in condition to take El Monstro’s best shots. But if Benavidez hopes to be competitive against the winner of Bivol-Beterbiev he’ll need to have more gas in the tank in the later rounds after throwing his full arsenal as he did seem a bit gassed in the later rounds last night. Benavidez appears to be less of a destructive puncher at 175 than he was at 168 based on last night’s performance but maybe it’s too early to definitively make that determination. Maybe we need to see Benavidez in there with someone else at 175 prior to facing either Bivol or Beterbiev. Someone like Joe Smith or Callum Smith would make for a solid test and give a good Benchmark.
Good win for Benavidez. He’s adjusting to a new weight class so that is something to keep in mind. I love the head movement, great hand speed, and combination punching. He tends to wing his hooks. Its mandatory he tightens that up against Bivol and especially Beterbiov. If he doesn’t he’ll learn the hard way. He’s no longer the monster but taking on other guys his size who can put him to sleep such as Beterbiov. I liked what I saw and he’s only going to get better. With Benavidez added to 175 the division is truly on-fire.