LAS VEGAS – David Benavidez fought and waited, fought and waited, taking down opponents while biding his time in hopes that Saul “Canelo’ Alvarez would finally give in, honor his super middleweight mandatory and give him the blockbuster fight he had earned.
It didn’t happen. So Benavidez moved on, moved up and made all the right moves to engineer his own marquee event, becoming a shot-caller in his own right by taking down David Morrell Jnr for a unanimous decision win in an entertaining action fight Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
Benavidez, 30-0 (24 KOs), of Phoenix, had been super middleweight’s boogeyman – an avoided fighter who was consistently denied the appropriate dance partners who could keep up with his moves.
Enter Morrell, 11-1 (9 KOs), who, like Benavidez at 168lbs, had fast become persona non grata in the light heavyweight division. A Cuban now fighting out of Minneapolis, Morrell had received just enough of the famously disciplined training from Cuba’s national team to build a sturdy fighting frame – but no so much of it that it boxed him in and kept him from flourishing as a power-hitting pro. If anyone not named Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol were to beat “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez at light heavy, it likely would be Morrell.
Yet it wasn’t. Benavidez, according to CompuBox stats, outlanded Morrell in all but one round before the 11th – and connected on more power punches in all of them. He toggled between controlling and dominating the action for nearly the entire fight, even if two of the judges’ scorecards – which read 115-111 – suggested a far closer outcome than the third, at 118-108.
No matter the scores, the skill level and showmanship from both fighters was impressive, as were the reactions to them from the T-Mobile Arena crowd. In the early rounds, Benavidez alternated between banging to the body and asserting his right-hand power, while Morrell mostly countered and clowned – grinning, talking to ringsiders, waving a bolo punch and at one point going into an Ali shuffle.
When a chorus of “Mexico! Mexico!” filled the arena in the second round, Morrell responded by finishing with a late flurry. In the third, it was the other side’s turn – “Cuba! Cuba!” – but those chants dissolved into cheers when Benavidez let both hands go and backed Morrell up to the ropes.
Still targeting the body but also firing off mixed combinations, Benavidez twice landed a vicious left hook and straight right. But in the third, after smashing a right hand into Morrell’s chest, the southpaw Morrell spun Benavidez into the corner and landed a power left hand. A furious exchange followed, but Benavidez closed the round with a commanding right hand.
At the end of the fifth, Benavidez thrust a scorching right through Morrell’s guard, and although Morrell didn’t bow, he was no longer mugging. The fight seemed to be getting away from him. A huge left uppercut and then a right cross from Benavidez thudded home in the sixth. A left hook-uppercut combo nearly beheaded Morrell midway through Round 7.
But Morrell wasn’t done. He landed a few combinations of his own in the eighth and rattled Benavidez’s chin with an uppercut. Any form of progress, however, seemed to be followed by a backslide. Given a moment of respite and allowed to play the aggressor, Morrell did – to which Benavidez replied with a straight right that staggered him just a bit.
Midway through Round 9, Benavidez was laying it on thick, combining body work with three uppercuts – two right hands and a left – that seemed to erode Morrell’s resolve.
By the 10th, Morrell was breathing through his mouth and no longer bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was bushed, if not yet beaten. Benavidez responded in kind, hanging back and taking the opportunity to recharge – while not letting Morrell off the hook. In the round’s final seconds, sensing the lull, Benavidez gave his own Ali shuffle to bring back the crowd, then landed a hard jab and a right hand before the bell.
Just when it seemed the fight was too far gone, Morrell instantly yanked it back and, from an oddly stretched position, landed a stabbing right hand that sent Benavidez staggering to the side and grazing his gloves on the canvas. It was ruled a knockdown, and though Benavidez was never off his feet, suddenly a sure thing was now up for grabs.
The fighters set to each other again, and the round ended with Morrell shelled up in a corner and Benavidez pumping away. As the bell rang, Benavidez continued firing for a beat – maybe two – until Morrell, almost as a reflex, finally threw back a right hand that landed flush on Benavidez’s cheek. In a poor (if ultimately inconsequential) decision, referee Thomas Taylor took a point away from Morrell.
The 12th saw both fighters nearly breathless and banged up – Morrell was nursing a mouse under his right eye, and blood showed around Benavidez’s lips – but still able to bring the fight home. Numerous exchanges made it one of the most active rounds of the fight, but Benavidez landed more frequently and potently – two blazing uppercuts were difference-makers – to ensure the night belonged to him.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at and followed on and .