On a night where the undercard results were even greater competition than the opponent in front of him, David Benavidez rose to the occasion.
A one-sided drubbing of England’s Anthony Yarde saw Benavidez retain his WBC 175lbs title and pick up his first knockout win in two years, almost to the day. A knockdown sequence later followed by a pair of left hooks was enough for referee Hector Afu to stop the contest at 1 minute and 59 seconds of Round 7 on Saturday evening at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“This is definitely what I expected,” Benavidez said after the fight. “We expected a war and we went to war. He cut me around the sixth round, and then you saw what I did. He stepped into the Monster's world and got KO’d.”
Despite its status as the main event, the WBC title fight was provided with several tough acts to follow – as was the case throughout the buildup. The mutual respect shown between Benavidez and Yarde from the moment they agreed to the fight was quickly overshadowed by its attractive undercard. Most viewed the Devin Haney-Brian Norman Jnr WBO title fight as “the people’s main event," while the Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez-Fernando “Puma” Martinez three-belt 115lbs unification was one for the sport’s hardcore fanbase.
By the time Benavidez and Yarde entered the ring, fans had already been treated to brilliant performances delivered by Haney and Rodriguez, along with a Fight of the Year contender that saw Abdullah Mason outlast Sam Noakes to win the vacant WBO 135lbs title.
The opening round of the main event did little to steal back the spotlight. Neither fighter offered anything of note; they were as respectful of each other in the ring as they had been during the separate press conferences to promote the event.
Benavidez picked up the pace in Round 2. Yarde invited the unbeaten two-division titlist to come forward but was forced to fend off a right hand. The three-time title challenger was rewarded for his patience as he connected with a right that caught Benavidez’s attention. Benavidez drove Yarde into a corner, but the Brit was comfortable fighting off the ropes.
Yarde continued to fight off the back foot in the thidr, hoping to catch Benavidez coming in. Benavidez was keen to the tactic and applied smart pressure. Yarde laid on the ropes and rode out a Benavidez combination then offered winging shots when action returned to center ring. Benavidez landed several clean right hands to close out the round.
The busiest sequence of the fight came towards the end of the fourth. Yarde intentionally held the right hand of Benavidez, who responded with a swarm of left hooks as referee Hector Afu rightly allowed the defending titlist to fight his way out of the situation. Benavidez closed out the round with a right hand and another left hook just at the bell.
After falling further behind in the fifth, Yarde came out with a sense of purpose in Round 6. A right-hand shot caught the attention of Benavidez, who adapted and regained momentum midway through the frame. Yarde found himself in familiar territory – his back against the ropes, though Benavidez made him pay this time as he landed with conviction to the body before coming back upstairs.
Blood began to flow from Yarde’s nose near the end of the frame. Benavidez stood his ground and slammed home left hooks and a right hand.
Time was called at the start of the round for the ringside physician to examine Yarde’s busted nose along with a cut over his right eye.
Yarde was permitted to continue, though Benavidez would make all involved regret that decision.
Benavidez had not scored a stoppage since November 25, 2023, in a one-sided, sixth-round knockout of unbeaten Demetrius Andrade in Las Vegas. Decision wins followed over Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Morrell Jnr in his first two fights at 175.
The knockout finish he sought was well on its way when Yarde was rocked early in the seventh. Benavidez continued on the attack and sent the Brit to the canvas, though one more punch thrown while Yarde was down resulted in a two-point deduction following the knockdown call.
It proved to be a moot point, as Benavidez closed the show in style. Yarde was once again trapped along the ropes, where Benavidez slammed home a left hook. Afu was already on his way to stopping the fight when another left hook sealed the deal.
The setback saw Yarde, 27-4 (24 KOs), fall short for the third time at the top level. He previously suffered knockout defeats to then-WBO titlist Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and then Artur Beterbiev in their January 2023 WBC, IBF and WBO title fight on home soil in London.
With Saturday's defeat, Yarde’s four-fight win streak came to a close. He remains one of the top light heavyweight contenders, though was unable to shed his reputation as a fighter who falls short when he steps up in class.
Meanwhile, Benavidez logged the first defense of his WBC crown after previously holding an interim version of the belt. He was upgraded to full title status after Dmitry Bivol refused to move forward with an ordered mandatory title consolidation bout earlier this year.
Bivol was the undisputed champ at the time but opted for a planned trilogy clash with Beterbiev that has yet to materialize. He remains the recognized lineal 175lbs champ and also holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles.
Benavidez previously held the WBC 168lbs title on two separate occasions. His second reign ended when he missed weight ahead of an August 2020 knockout win over Roamer Alexis Aguelo. The vacant belt was made available later that year for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, as the WBC let its favorite son jump the line.
Benavidez rallied back to become the longtime top challenger to Alvarez, even claiming the interim title. The WBC never enforced the mandatory, however.
As a result, Benavidez chucked deuces to the 168lbs division and began his light heavyweight campaign. He is now 3-0 at the weight.
The natural course of progression would be for a path that leads to a Bivol-Benavidez undisputed championship. However, Benavidez has been far more vocal of a showdown with unified WBA/WBO cruiserweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
According to his own breaking news statement, that could very well be next.
“I got news for everyone: May 2, me versus Zurdo Ramirez. I’m going up to cruiserweight,” insisted Benavidez, in a bid to become a three-division titlist.
