David Benavidez impressed in his light-heavyweight debut, beating former champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk on the cards at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
The 27-year-old pushed pause on his quest to get a fight for the undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez to move up up light-heavyweight. Waiting for him there was Gvozdyk, the former WBC 175 World Champion with just one loss to current unified champ Artur Beterbiev. For the WBC Interim belt, the winner would be first in line for a shot at the undisputed champion, decided on October 12 when Beterbiev faces Dmitry Bivol.
The trademark relentless pressure of Benavidez was on display from the first bell, consistently allowing him to outland the 37-year-old Ukrainian and put in some great early investment to the body. As the fight entered its second half ‘The Mexican Monster’ had begun to mix in uppercuts and quick combos on the inside, Gvozdyk’s best offering so far being a good chin and solid, occasional jab, although his counter power shots started to find a home and keep the A-side honest.
Though Gvozdyk took advantage of a slightly more tired Benavidez towards the end and seemed to pick up some much needed rounds, the younger man took a unanimous decision with scores of 116-112, 117-111, 119-109.
Post-fight, he made it clear that he would go back down to 168 to target Canelo again, or at the very least his belts.
“I’m 189, I only gained 14 pounds. We’re still looking to go down to 168 and fight for the title. If I can get Canelo or if they’re gonna vacate it, I would like to win it one more time. Absolutely not [would it be hard to make the weight.]”
Benavidez then confirmed he would like to face both Bivol and Beterbiev at 175 in the future.
