Photos: Jermall Charlo Snaps Layoff, Decisions a Gutsy Jose Benavidez in Comeback Win

Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas - In a super middleweight contest, Jermall Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) looked good in winning a dominant ten round unanimous decision over a game Jose Benavidez (28-3-1, 19 KOs). (photos by Ryan Hafey)

The scores were 98-92, 99-91 and 100-90.

Charlo, who currently holds the WBC middleweight title, was fighting for the first time since June of 2021, when he won a tough twelve round decision over Juan Macias Montiel.

Benavidez is pressing forward and pushing Charlo back in the first round. It was a jabbing match between the two. Both fighters were having moments. Benavidez began to brawl with Charlo. But, Charlo stunned Benavidez with a right hand and unloaded with hard punches.

Benavidez came out firing and pressing at the start of the second. Charlo weathered the assault and rocked the legs of Benavidez with a hard uppercut. A right hand would later rattle Benavidez. Charlo was connecting with the stiffer jab, but Benavidez was game. At the start of the third, Benavidez went after Charlo with numerous combinations.  Benavidez was working well with his punches. 

In the fourth, Charlo was jabbing well to the head and body. Charlo's combinations were connecting well. During the fifth, Benavidez stood his ground on the inside and went toe to toe with Charlo. As the round played out, Charlo was landing the harder, more accurate punches. The sixth had Charlo shaking up Benavidez with a two punch combination. The jab of Charlo was controlling the action. Charlo continued to control the fight with his heavy jab and combinations in the seventh round.

During the eight, Charlo's power and jab was in full control. At the start of the ninth, Benavidez came out firing punches at Charlo. There wasn't much damage done, with Charlo taking back control pretty quickly. Benavidez was eating a lot of hard left hands. In the tenth and final round, Benavidez tried to jump on Charlo with punches in bunches. There was a lot of trash talking between the two. Benavidez was badly hurt in the closing moments of the round and on shaky legs to the final bell.