David Benavidez took shots from all quarters after losing his super middleweight title on the scale Friday. Once the opening bell rang on Saturday, he started delivering them.
Benavidez handed tough, but overmatched Roamer Alexis Angulo a fearful and prolonged beating before Angulo’s corner stopped the onslaught after the 10th round of a scheduled 12-round fight at the Mohegan Sun bubble in Uncasville, Conn.
Angulo (26-2, 22 KOs) would’ve claimed Benavidez’s former title had he won but the Colombian never really had a chance, as Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) won every round on all three cards and deftly avoided taking clean shots.
Benavidez weighed in Friday almost three pounds over the 168-pound limit, which cost him the WBC super middleweight title. He blamed himself and expressed disappointment.
However, he said he still had a job to do in the ring. And to say he did it is an understatement.
Benavidez came out firing one of the best, hardest jabs in boxing at the opening bell and never stopped throwing it. That set power shots that came in overwhelming volleys, landing to both the head and body of Angulo round after round.
And as the went on, it seemed Angulo took more and more punishment. One could argue that Angulo could’ve been saved as early as the eighth round.
Angulo had some good moments, particularly when he was able to trap Benavidez against the ropes. However, even there, he didn’t get much done as Benavidez covered, slipped away or just punched back to quickly regain the advantage.
The best thing you could say about Angulo is that he has a hell of a chin. Not many fighters could’ve withstood the pounding he absorbed and remained upright.
Angulo took a particularly bad beating in the 10th round, when Benavidez was landing heavy punches at will. When Angulo sat down on his stool after the round, his trainer, Pedro Diaz, turned around to the referee and said enough was enough.
The ending was the only merciful moment for the brave Colombian.
The CompuBox stats told the story. Benavidez outlanded Angulo 290 (of 703) to 51 (of 400). That’s almost a 6-1 to advantage. Angulo landed only 13% of his punches, which underscores the futility of his effort. And the winner landed a remarkable 56% of his power shots (219 of 391).
Benavidez had a horrible Friday but his Saturday was pretty damn good.
“I felt good, man,” he said. “I rate myself a solid eight. I could have done some stuff better, but overall it was a great performance. I didn’t want to go too fast, leave myself exposed for some big shots. He’s a heavy puncher. But like I said, I like to do the stuff that nobody has ever done.
“Nobody has ever stopped him, and I’m pretty sure nobody is ever going to make him look like that again. I demolished him from Round one to Round 11.”
Benavidez was asked once again after the fight about failing to make weight. And he again pointed a finger at himself, saying he must take the steps necessary to be certain it doesn’t happen again.
At the same time, he believes he proved by his performance that discipline isn’t an issue for him.
“You know, if they thought I had a discipline problem, it would have shown in the ring,” he said. “Did I look tired, fatigued? Just because I missed weight one time doesn’t mean I’m not disciplined. But they’re entitled to say whatever they want because it’s true. I didn’t make weight.
“It’s up to me to go back to the drawing board and come back better next time.”
Benavidez was in line for some big fights, including a title-unification showdown with rival Caleb Plant and possibly even a fight with Canelo Alvarez in the near future.
Now what? The former champion won’t be making any demands after his weight debacle. He said he’ll wait his turn for another chance to fight for a belt. He made one thing clear, though: He plans to stay 168 for the time being.
“Hopefully I get another chance to fight for the WBC title again,” he said. “I’m not going to ask for another shot right away. If they want to give it to me, good. If not, I don’t mind going to the back of the line and starting my way back up from the bottom.
“I want to get all these fights before I go up [to 175]. I have to be even more dedicated than I already was. I felt like with training, as long as I didn’t miss any training session, running sessions, strength and conditioning, that I would be good.
“But the diet has to be way stricter. It was already good but something got messed up and, I don’t know, I couldn’t get those last pounds off.”
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