David Benavidez dominated Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his light heavyweight debut, winning a lopsided decision despite suffering injuries, and is now eyeing future big fights, including potential matchups with Canelo Alvarez and the winner of Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev.
A new threat has arrived at light heavyweight, and his name is David Benavidez.
While he didn’t deliver a knockout, Benavidez dominated a former champion in Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the better part of 12 rounds on the Tank vs. Martin card in Las Vegas. He landed the better punches and adapted his style to deal with a bigger, stronger opponent. Ultimately, Benavidez won a lopsided decision but revealed afterward that he suffered a cut over his eye and a torn tendon in his right hand that almost prevented him from fighting.
Still, Benavidez got the job done with a decision win in his debut at light heavyweight. The final scorecards read 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109, all for Benavidez.
“I think it’s a seven out of 10, honestly,” Benavidez rated his performance. “I felt like I had a great fight, a tough fighter, but we’re looking to move on. I think it’s because I was trying to get a feel at the light heavyweight division. I can’t let [the injuries] affect me. I’m just happy for this victory.”
Benavidez was aggressive from the jump, as he marched Gvozdyk backward, leading with a slick jab and then digging to the body with several stiff shots. While Gvozdyk looked like the more natural light heavyweight, he stayed very active but just couldn’t find a home for his best punches against the elusive Benavidez.
Well known for closing the distance and doing damage inside the phone booth, Benavidez showed relentless pressure as he chipped away at Gvozdyk with every combination. Gvozdyk did his best to shove Benavidez away from him and get physical with his undefeated opponent, but he struggled to mount much offense of his own.
Several times early in the fight, Benavidez buzzed Gvozdyk with some nasty shots, especially a lightning quick left hand that snapped off with rhythm and power. With a left to the head and a right to the body, Benavidez seemingly couldn’t miss when he unleashed his best combinations, and he never allowed Gvozdyk to really put together any punches in succession.
By the time the action moved into the fifth round, Benavidez attacked with no real fear of reprisal as he continued punishing Gvozdyk with everything in his arsenal. To his credit, Gvozdyk stayed active, but he just couldn’t connect with any accuracy and Benavidez lit him up in return.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Gvozdyk’s performance was his ability to absorb a world of punishment from Benavidez, who picked and choosed his shots at will with little resistance to stop him. Even when Benavidez slowed down, he still exploded forward at opportune times and cracked Gvozdyk with some nasty punches.
There were moments where it almost seemed as if Benavidez was just racking up time in his new weight class as he toyed with Gvozdyk. Again and again, Benavidez launched a leaping left hook that he clearly felt would be his knockout punch.
Benavidez began slowing down as the fight faded into the last few rounds, but he always found a way to pick up steam with less than a minute to go. Maybe it was giving Gvozdyk some false confidence and then coming after him again, but Benavidez was still connecting with more power and accuracy throughout.
Gvozdyk did a good job staying active and keeping Benavidez honest, but he just never landed any truly punishing punches against his smaller opponent. When the fight ended, there was no doubt that Benavidez would earn the victory.
With the win, Benavidez sets the stage for several potentially huge fights in his future, including a long-awaited showdown against Canelo Alvarez after Benavidez announced plans to return to 168 pounds to pursue that title again.
“I would like to fight in both these weight classes,” Benavidez said.
He also mentioned possibly facing the winner of the highly anticipated matchup between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, with those two monsters squaring off in October.