David Benavidez, Matias & Charlo Dominate; Roach Beats Garcia
In this latest tour of duty, two-time WBC super middleweight champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO’s) dominated and stopped two-division champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (32-1, 19 KO’s) in the sixth. Andrade opened the fight beautifully, controlling distance, going to the body, circling and smothering Benavidez’s offense on the inside. His tactics largely muted any of The Mexican Monster’s aggression.
The fight would dramatically shift in fourth when The Mexican Monster clipped and dropped Andrade with a crushing left hook to the face. From that moment on, Benavidez was in total control and had Boo Boo in dire condition. His situation was so harsh that referee Thomas Taylor relentlessly hounded Andrade to show more output.
After absorbing a hellacious amount of punishment, Andrade’s own corner would call a halt to the fight at the conclusion of the sixth period. In his post-fight interview, Benavidez would once again call out undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
JERMALL CHARLO WASHES JOSE BENAVIDEZ JR.
In his first fight in over two years, WBC middleweight champion Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (33-0, 22 KO’s) turned in a serviceable performance. As a result, he picked up a wide unanimous decision win over Jose “El Phoenix” Benavidez Jr. (28-3-1, 19 KO’s). Throughout the match, Charlo’s jab dominated and did the majority of his damage. For his part, Benavidez Jr. was very game and attempted to win and remain competitive.
Unfortunately for him though, El Phoenix did not have the speed or power to gain Charlo’s respect. This was not the biggest surprise given that Benavidez Jr. was moving up in weight, does not have the best defense and is largely a one-legged fighter. Nevertheless, he provided enough resistance to go the distance and help Charlo shake off a good deal of ring rust. In the final rounds though, the champion did start connecting with a number of heavy power shots.
When the one-sided duel went to the scorecards, Hit Man prevailed with the judges seeing it 98-92, 99-91 and 100-90, all for Charlo.
SUBRIEL MATIAS DOMINATES SHOHJAHON ERGASHEV
In the second defense of his IBF super lightweight title, Subriel “El Orgullo Maternillo” Matias (20-1, 20 KO’s) prevailed by way of sixth-round TKO. This rather buzzkill of a victory manifested when challenger Shohjahon Ergashev (23-1, 20 KO’s) abruptly could not respond to the bell for the sixth round. Up until the end, the fight was the action-packed slugfest that many thought that it would be.
In the beginning of the bout, Ergashev got off to a voluminous early start as Matias was still warming up. Over the next several rounds however, El Orgullo de Maternillo thawed out then heated up as he became the clear ring aggressor.
Once activated, Matias began thumping Ergashev, ranked #3 (IBF) and #13 (WBC), with a destructive volley of punches with the fourth being the most one-sided of the bout. The offense was spread out well over the head and body. While he did not appear overly damaged or impaired, Ergashev did not answer the call of combat for the sixth round, which awarded the victory to the champion, Matias.
LAMONT ROACH EDGES HECTOR GARCIA TO BECOME CHAMPION
In the first defense of his WBA super featherweight title, Hector Luis “El Androide” Garcia (16-2, 10 KO’s) suffered a narrow split decision defeat to Lamont Roach (24-1-1, 9 KO’s). Throughout the majority of the contest, both fighters were extremely economical in terms of output and the chances that they took.
This resulted in a slower paced match that saw a great deal of jabs and single-shot blows. The challenger did display good defense the entire fight. The action briefly heated up in the eleventh when Roach buzzed the champion with a stiff overhand right that sent him sailing back into the ropes. Roach recognized the damage and jumped on Garcia but could not finish the bloody-mouthed fighter off. Roach would score a knockdown in the twelfth with a cuffing right hook to the back of the head.
Ultimately, the judges were swayed by the tight defense and late round knockdown and awarded Lamont the win with the scores of 114-113 Garcia, 113-114 and 116-111 for Roach. It will be interesting to see who Roach pens his next prizefight with.
