David Benavidez seemed out of touch with reality about how he performed in his win over Oleksandr Gvozyk, claiming that he “dominated every round” in his debut at 175 last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Did Benavidez Truly Dominate?
Benavidez didn’t appear to dominate the fight and caved after the sixth round, getting walked down by Gvozdyk from the seventh through the twelfth.
It wasn’t one of Benavidez’s better performances of his career. He won the fight, beating the 37-year-old Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) by a wide twelve-round unanimous decision to capture the WBC interim light heavyweight title. However, the judges’ scores were off by a wide margin based on how the fans on social media saw the fight.
The judges scored it for Benavidez 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109. Benavidez looked like he won by the skin of his teeth, and it could have easily been a draw because he didn’t come close to winning rounds 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. Those were all one-sided in Gvozdyk’s favor.
Shifting Focus: 175 or 168?
What was odd was Benavidez called out Canelo Alvarez after the fight, saying he would return to 168. Unfortunately, that fight is unlikely to happen.
The whole point of Benavidez moving up to fight for the WBC interim 175-lb title was to fight for the undisputed championship against the winner of the October 12th bout between champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
So, Benavidez’s talk about returning to the 168-lb division left boxing fans confused and unsure if he’d changed his mind about fighting the Beterbiev-Bivol winner.
“Yeah, he has a lot of experience. I went in there, and I dominated every single round, even with a cut and two messed up hands. That speaks volumes about my game. I’m just happy to keep contending in this weight class [175],” said David Benavidez at the post-fight press conference, talking about his win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“I won another belt. I got to take a break. I f**** up my hand, both of them. If it’s Canelo of whoever in that division, I’m going to show the world I’m the ‘Mexican Monster.’ I don’t care who’s in front of me. I’m going to come out victorious,” said Benavidez.
