Benavidez outslugs Morrell, adds secondary title

Behind a sustained body assault and brutal power punching, David Benavidez outworked David Morrell to earn a unanimous decision victory in a battle of light heavyweight interim titleholders at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The clash between heated rivals was an entertaining battle of power punchers, but it would be Benavidez's accuracy, aggression and volume that earned him the victory.

Benavidez, 28, repeatedly told his opponent that body punching would be the key to picking up a stoppage. But it was Benavidez who would taste the canvas in the 11th round when a right hand caught him off balance. Unfortunately for Morrell, he was deducted a point for punching after the bell during a furious exchange.

The knockdown was too little, too late as Benavidez piled up an insurmountable lead to retain his WBC interim title and claim Morrell's WBA "regular" title. The judges scored the bout 115-111, 115-111 and 118-108.

"This is Monster's world," Benavidez, nicknamed "the Mexican Monster," said in response to Morrell saying that he didn't believe in monsters in the buildup to the fight. "You know what it is, but a big shout to Morrell. He took a tough test. I knew he was going to be a tough fighter. That's why I prepared so hard for this. I'm just happy the people were able to get a good show tonight."

Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) spent much of the fight on the front foot, applying pressure and drilling the Cuban to the body. Morrell (11-1) opted to stand in front of Benavidez rather than use his movement to prevent his rival from pinning him against the ropes. Things were competitive early, but Benavidez began gaining momentum in the middle rounds as he delivered a sustained body assault and drilled Morrell with lead uppercuts.

By Round 7, Benavidez had already landed more punches on Morrell than any of the Morrell's previous opponents and slid into a groove of pumping a jab, slamming punches into Morrell's torso and launching a lead uppercut. Morrell would fight in spurts and managed to land some heavy power shots, but Benavidez's chin held up exceptionally well.

Just as Benavidez appeared to get too comfortable bulling his way forward, Morrell caught him off guard in the 11th round with a sweeping hook that put down Benavidez for the second time in his career. Though the knockdown didn't appear to hurt Benavidez, the punch after the bell certainly got his attention.

"I wasn't really hurt, but it was after the bell," Benavidez said. "The little bulls--- knockdown caught me off balance. It is what it is. But like I said, that was a good fight."

Benavidez landed 224 of 553 punches (41%) to Morrell's 165 of 601 (27%). But it would be the 76 body punches landed by Benavidez that would allow him to take control. Morrell fought valiantly but was overpowered as he threw more punches than Benavidez but landed with far less frequency.

A former two-time WBC super middleweight champion, Benavidez had long sought a fight with Canelo Alvarez in what would be one of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing. But Alvarez has shown little interest in the fight, which led to Benavidez moving up to light heavyweight to pursue world titles in a new weight class.

Benavidez is in line to face the winner of the Feb. 22 undisputed light heavyweight title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

"This is the biggest [win of my] career so far because look at all the people who came out and supported me," Benavidez said. "I just want to be the best of my era, and whoever they need me to fight next, I want to unify all four titles, so that's next."