Benavidez Injures Hand after Dominant Win over Santana

By Ryan Maquiñana

Unbeaten junior welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. will seek medical attention after injuring both of his hands in a six-round unanimous decision victory over Samuel Santana on the Pacquiao-Marquez III undercard last night.

“He got him with some good shots, especially to the body,” said his trainer and father, Jose Benavidez Sr.  “I think he might have hit the guy on top of his head.”

Despite making the finish line, Santana (4-5-2) was dropped four times by a variety of left hooks to the body and chopping right hands over the top which possibly caused Benavidez Jr. (14-0, 12 KOs), a 19-year-old native of Phoenix, to wince in pain between rounds.

“We couldn’t use the right hand because he thought it was broken,” Benavidez Sr. continued.  “The left hand hurt, too, but he managed to use it.  I kept telling him that jab would save him.  We were trying to stay away from the ropes and use our distance, and I think he did good.”

Benavidez Jr. revealed swollen knuckles on his right hand and a sore left hand in the locker room after the fight, which ended 60-50 across the board.

“[Top Rank CEO] Bob [Arum] was really happy with Junior, and now he’s at Arizona getting some X-Rays on his hand, because Bob said they’re paying for the medical bills.  I got the O.K. from Top Rank to see a hand specialist. I have no idea what we’re doing next until then.”

Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel.  E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.