Tag: CompuBox

David Benavidez: Big, strong, relentless and most-accurate puncher in boxing

David Benavidez is big, strong, relentless and more accurate than anyone else in boxing.

David Benavidez recently listed some of the attributes that have allowed him to win two world titles and build a perfect resume. Among his claims: He’s the most accurate puncher in the 168-pound division.

That’s true, according to Bob Canobbio of CompuBox. Benavidez did himself a disservice, though.

“Benavidez underestimated himself,” Canobbio told Boxing Junkie. “He leads all fighters — not just 168 — in total connect percentage.”

Yep. No one in the sport connects at a higher rate than the 26-year-old from Phoenix, who faces Caleb Plant on March 25 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He lands 38.4% of every punch he throws, which well ahead of No. 2 Gennadiy Golovkin at 36.5% (see Top 10 below).

Of course, no one who has followed the career of Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) career would be shocked to hear that news.

The naked eye can see that he’s one of the most destructive offensive forces in the world, which accounts for his high knockout percentage (88). He isn’t a one-punch knockout artist; he tortures his opponents, battering them unmercifully until they can fight no more. He has stopped his last six opponents.

He expects the same against Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), who was stopped by Canelo Alvarez in 11 rounds in 2021 but rebounded to KO Anthony Dirrell in nine last year.

“Some people don’t understand that I’m the most accurate puncher in this weight class,” he said. “I’ve had 23 knockouts in 26 fights. I’ve hurt every man I’ve been in the ring with and Caleb Plant is no different.”

Benavidez believes Plant is particularly vulnerable against powerful opponents.

“You can see that every time Caleb is in the ring with a power puncher, he’s not comfortable,” he said. “He beat Jose Uzcategui but he was hurt in the fight and then Canelo hurt him. Even Anthony Dirrell hit him with good shots, and he’s not a hitter like that.

“I’ve got the power and I feel like I’m faster. I just have to get my feet in the right position, because he’s going to be moving a lot. I think he has a little bit more confidence after beating Dirrell though, so we’ll see if he wants to trade with me.”

Bad idea for Plant?

“I’m a big guy and I throw punches in bunches,” Benavidez said. “I’m ready to mix it up in there. Every question you all have will be answered on March 25.”

 

TOP 10 CONNECT PERCENTAGE (TOTAL PUNCHES)
Source: CompuBox

DAVID BENAVIDEZ 38.4%
GENNADY GOLOVKIN 36.5%
VASILIY LOMACHENKO 36.0%
ROMAN GONZALEZ 35.8%
BADOU JACK 35.6%
ANTHONY DIRRELL 35.5%
GERVONTA DAVIS 35.1%
SAUL ALVAREZ 35.1%
JULIAN WILLIAMS 34.7%
NAOYA INOUE 34.7%

[lawrence-related id=35397,35289,30331]

David Benavidez: Big, strong, relentless and most-accurate puncher in boxing

David Benavidez is big, strong, relentless and more accurate than anyone else in boxing.

David Benavidez recently listed some of the attributes that have allowed him to win two world titles and build a perfect resume. Among his claims: He’s the most accurate puncher in the 168-pound division.

That’s true, according to Bob Canobbio of CompuBox. Benavidez did himself a disservice, though.

“Benavidez underestimated himself,” Canobbio told Boxing Junkie. “He leads all fighters — not just 168 — in total connect percentage.”

Yep. No one in the sport connects at a higher rate than the 26-year-old from Phoenix, who faces Caleb Plant on March 25 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He lands 38.4% of every punch he throws, which well ahead of No. 2 Gennadiy Golovkin at 36.5% (see Top 10 below).

Of course, no one who has followed the career of Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) career would be shocked to hear that news.

The naked eye can see that he’s one of the most destructive offensive forces in the world, which accounts for his high knockout percentage (88). He isn’t a one-punch knockout artist; he tortures his opponents, battering them unmercifully until they can fight no more. He has stopped his last six opponents.

He expects the same against Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), who was stopped by Canelo Alvarez in 11 rounds in 2021 but rebounded to KO Anthony Dirrell in nine last year.

“Some people don’t understand that I’m the most accurate puncher in this weight class,” he said. “I’ve had 23 knockouts in 26 fights. I’ve hurt every man I’ve been in the ring with and Caleb Plant is no different.”

Benavidez believes Plant is particularly vulnerable against powerful opponents.

“You can see that every time Caleb is in the ring with a power puncher, he’s not comfortable,” he said. “He beat Jose Uzcategui but he was hurt in the fight and then Canelo hurt him. Even Anthony Dirrell hit him with good shots, and he’s not a hitter like that.

“I’ve got the power and I feel like I’m faster. I just have to get my feet in the right position, because he’s going to be moving a lot. I think he has a little bit more confidence after beating Dirrell though, so we’ll see if he wants to trade with me.”

Bad idea for Plant?

“I’m a big guy and I throw punches in bunches,” Benavidez said. “I’m ready to mix it up in there. Every question you all have will be answered on March 25.”

 

TOP 10 CONNECT PERCENTAGE (TOTAL PUNCHES)
Source: CompuBox

DAVID BENAVIDEZ 38.4%
GENNADY GOLOVKIN 36.5%
VASILIY LOMACHENKO 36.0%
ROMAN GONZALEZ 35.8%
BADOU JACK 35.6%
ANTHONY DIRRELL 35.5%
GERVONTA DAVIS 35.1%
SAUL ALVAREZ 35.1%
JULIAN WILLIAMS 34.7%
NAOYA INOUE 34.7%

[lawrence-related id=35397,35289,30331]

Alex Saucedo outworks, outpoints Sonny Fredrickson

Alex Saucedo attacked with bad intentions from the opening bell, outpunching and outlanding Sonny Fredrickson to win a decision Tuesday.

Alex Saucedo gave his performance a C+ after he outpointed Sonny Fredrickson on Tuesday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Fredrickson probably would give him a higher grade.

Saucedo attacked with bad intentions from the opening bell, outpunching and outlanding his opponent by large margins to win a wide decision in a 10-round junior welterweight bout in what has become known as the bubble at the MGM Grand.

The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 100-90, all for Saucedo, who has now won two in a row since he was stopped by then 140-pound titleholder Maurice Hooker last July.

“I am a more disciplined fighter, but I’m still an aggressive fighter who goes for the knockout. That won’t change,” Saucedo said.

Indeed, Saucedo (30-1, 19 KOs) has been trying to refine his technique to avoid taking an inordinate number of punches, as has been the case in some fights. And he showed signs of evolving into a more responsible boxer.

However, he was largely the same Saucedo we’ve come to know, a warrior who comes at you hard and essentially doesn’t let up. Fredrickson (21-3, 14 KOs) had his moments, especially in the middle of the ring, but the taller fighter couldn’t keep Saucedo off him enough to win rounds.

The winner threw 885 punches, according to CompuBox. That’s a busy 88.5 per round. And of his 318 shots that landed, 201 were power shots. Fredrickson was 172 of 584 overall.

Saucedo hurt Fredrickson with an overhand right late in the first round and followed with a number of bombs but Fredrickson, tough and determined if overmatched, survived and continued to fight back.

The product of Toledo, Ohio, seemed to find his range in the middle rounds, when he followed a pretty consistent, long jab with some solid power shots. His uppercut was particularly effective at times.

The ever-aggressive Saucedo simply worked harder than Fredrickson in the late rounds to secure the victory.

Saucedo, bitterly disappointed with his performance against Hooker, wants another shot at a world title as soon as possible. And he feels the work he put in Tuesday night will help him.

“I am ready to take over the 140-pound division,” he said. “Whatever opportunity comes my way, I will take advantage of it. Most importantly, I got rid of the ring rust and went 10 hard rounds.”

In preliminaries, junior welterweight prospect Josue Vargas (17-1, 9 KOs) of Bronx, N.Y., overcome several obstacles to defeat Salvador Briceno (17-6, 11 KOs) of Mexico by a near-shutout decision in a 10-round bout.

Vargas learned shortly before the fight that his father/trainer Hilario Vargas wouldn’t be working his corner because he had left the controlled bubble, he suffered a cut above his left eye in the second round and he had his two front teeth knocked out in the fourth round.

In spite of all that, Vargas, boxing beautifully, outclassed the bigger, forward-charging Briceno the entire fight, beating him to the punch, outworking him and taking relatively few shots himself to win by scores of 99-91, 100-90 and 100-90.

Junior welterweight prospect John Bauza () of Puerto Rico defeated Lawrence Fryers (11-3, 4 KOs) of Ireland by a wide decision in an eight-round fight. The scores were 79-73, 80-72 and 80-72.

And, in a six-round middleweight bout, Isiah Jones (9-2, 3 KOs) of Detroit defeated Donte Stubbs (6-1, 2 KOs) of Riverside, California, by a majority decision. The scores were+ 57-57, 59-55 and 58-56.

Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather: Almost $500,000 per punch landed in 2010s

Floyd Mayweather made $499,181.67 for every punch he landed in the 2010s, according to Forbes and CompuBox.

Floyd Mayweather was an economical puncher – in more ways than one.

Forbes reported that “Money” was the world’s highest paid athlete of the 2010s, earning $915 million in 10 fights during the decade. In those fights, according to CompuBox, he landed 1,833 punches (of 4,270 thrown).

Dan Canobbio of CompuBox did the math: That’s $499,181.67 for every punch landed ($214,285.71 for every punch thrown).

That’s making the most out of your punches.

By comparison, according to the Census Bureau, the median American household income in 2018 was $63,179 – or 13 percent of what Mayweather made for landing a shot in the 2010s.

Of course, we shouldn’t begrudge Mayweather his fortune. Millions wanted to see him fight and he delivered. His fights against Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor alone generated  more than 9 million combined pay-per-view buys.

But almost half a million dollars for every punch landed?

Good, bad, worse: Who lit the fire under Jean Pascal?

Jean Pascal’s fire combined with a passionate response from Badou Jack made for an exciting light heavyweight fight Saturday night.

GOOD

I don’t know what got into Jean Pascal but I hope it’s catching.

The Haitian-Canadian fought Badou Jack with the hunger of a 21-year-old trying to establish himself in boxing, not an aging veteran, winging hard punches at a high rate from the opening bell on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Saturday in Atlanta.

His best moment came in the fourth round, when he landed a right to the side of Jack’s head that sent him sprawling to the canvas.

Pascal, 37, couldn’t maintain his pace beyond the first half of the fight, which opened the door for the more-steady Jack to take control of the later rounds and score his own knockdown in the 12th and final frame.

Still, Pascal’s youthful energy and a passionate response from Jack gave fans a terrific light heavyweight bout that stole the show at State Farm Arena.

I had a problem with the decision – a split verdict for Pascal – because I thought Jack was the tortoise to Pascal’s hare. I thought he controlled the fight with his jab, outworked Pascal overall and was much more precise in his punching.

CompuBox supports those observations: Jack outlanded Pascal 244 to 155 and had an edge in his connection rate, 39 percent to 28.

That said, I don’t want to  be overly critical of the judges for two reasons. One, they had similar scores. All three had it 114-112, two for Pascal and one for Jack. That kind of consistency is ideal. And, two, the fight was damn good. That’s also ideal.

 

BAD

Gervonta Davis (left) landed plenty of power shots and ultimately stopped a gimpy Yuriorkis Gamboa but something was missing. Amanda Westcott / Showtime

I was expecting one of two things from the Davis-Gamboa fight: a firefight for as long as it lasted or a spectacular performance from Davis. Neither happened, which was a shame.

The foot injury Gamboa suffered when he went down in the second round – or whatever it was – precluded any chance that the 38-year-old Cuban would be competitive. We can’t expect much from an old, declining fighter with an Achilles injury.

That would seem to have made Gamboa easy prey for a knockout artist like Davis, who had stopped 21 of his previous 22 opponents. It didn’t. Gamboa, clever if nothing else, did what he could to survive and Davis was unable to put him away until the 12th and final round.

“Tank” might’ve had an off night. It happens. Or Gamboa might’ve been trickier than we realize. Most likely, Gamboa didn’t train properly leading up the fight, which would explain the fact he initially missed weight and then gave a sluggish performance.

Whatever the reason, a fight that should’ve been exciting was mildly entertaining at best. Davis did land a high percentage of his power shots, which we’ve come to expect. He just didn’t throw many punches, 321 the entire fight, according to CompuBox, and seemed to be tired in the later rounds.

I don’t know whether Davis’ stock suffered as a result of his performance but I’m guessing a lot of people were disappointed.

 

WORSE

Davis is a role model for a lot of young people, including his daughter. He should keep that in mind when it comes to his behavior. Amanda Westcott / Showtime

A bit of unsolicited advice for Davis: Be a professional.

The Gamboa fight was billed as Davis’ debut at 135 pounds, although he had fought over 130 at least nine times. Still, he was moving up in weight. And he initially weighed in 1.2 pounds over the limit before making weight on his second try.

Seriously? This is supposed to be your biggest fight and you miss weight?

I don’t want to draw conclusions based on an extra 1.2 pounds but it raises questions in my mind about Davis’ training for the fight. And that was reinforced by his so-so performance, at least by his standards. Is he willing to put in the work to become great or not? It’s not going to happen without the effort.

And was the shove at the weigh-in necessary? Perhaps it was orchestrated to promote the fight, although I doubt organizers would trot out such a tired gimmick. Either way, pushing your opponent and igniting a melee does nothing but make you look bad.

Davis has the potential to be a great fighter, his performance against Gamboa aside. That means he could enjoy fame and fortune. And he already is a role model for a lot of kids in Baltimore and perhaps beyond, who will follow his lead.

With that in mind, I would hope Davis learns from his missteps and grows as both a man and a fighter.

Gervonta Davis stops Yuriorkis Gamboa on strange night

Gervonta Davis stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa as expected but the events of the evening were out of the ordinary.

Well, that was weird.

Gervonta Davis did what most people expected him to do Saturday night in Atlanta, which was to knock out Yuriorkis Gamboa. No one could’ve predicted how he would arrive at that point, though.

The peculiarities started in Round 2, when Gamboa went down from a hard left hand and then complained after the round that he had injured his right foot when fell. “I can’t go! I can’t go! he said emphatically, according to a translator, yet he continued.

Gamboa said after the fight that he ruptured his Achilles heal, although that wasn’t confirmed.

So let’s take stock right here: Davis is fighting a 38-year-old who is well past his prime and has some sort of injury that makes it difficult for him to maneuver. Easy knock out, right?

Uhhhh, no. First of all, Gamboa was in survival mode almost the entire fight. A veteran who wants to survive is difficult to stop. And second, Davis was strangly inactive. He landed more than enough power shots to win the fight – and put Gamboa down three times – but he allowed Gamboa to stick around by being relatively passive.

Davis threw only 321 punches in 11-plus rounds, according to CompuBox. That equates to a sluggish performance.

Poor conditioning? The rising young star missed weight Friday afternoon even though he was fighting for the first time as a full-fledged lightweight, which raises questions about his preparation for this fight — disturbing questions.

In the end, Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) won almost every round, put Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) down in Rounds 2, 8 and 12 and got his stoppage when a huge left uppercut put Gamboa on his pants and convinced referee Jack Reiss that enough was enough.

Still, it wasn’t Davis’ greatest night. He admitted it afterward, saying “I believe my performance was a C+.”

“Coming into this fight I knew Gamboa would be a tough opponent,” Davis said. “Everybody wrote him off but I knew he was a veteran. As you could see in the ring I was catching him and hurting him but he was still alert. I knew he was different from any opponent I fought before.”

The knockdown in the second round was hardly surprising given Davis’ reputation. What followed had everyone confused.

In the corner, between the second and third rounds, it wasn’t clear whether Gamboa had a problem with his body or his shoe. It was only obvious that he began favoring the right leg after he went down.

The one-time Cuban amateur star, an Olympic gold medalist in 2004, moved about the ring as best he could — and it wasn’t pretty — and often held Davis when he got close enough to land punches in the next few rounds.

After the fourth round, one of his cornerman wrapped tape around the foot to give it some stability and that seemed to help to some extent. Gamboa moved a little better and, while still in survival mode and looking about 10 years older than 38, he even gave Davis trouble at times.

All three judges reportedly gave Gamboa Round 7, which was his only victory on this night.

Davis, who had never been past nine rounds, seemed to tire down the stretch even with his low punch output. He threw and connected on hard shots here and there but they were infrequent and rarely came in combination. That allowed Gamboa to survive as long as he did.

The one thing Davis did well was end the fight in dramatic fashion. He had landed a few telling blows, with Gamboa trying to hold on, when the left came from underneath and sent him crashing to the canvas.

Reiss, standing over a sitting Gamboa, took one good look and waved his arms. There was no point in letting the strange fight continue.

“It was a great experience to have a game, tough opponent on my resume like him,” the soft spoken Davis said. “I’m only 25 years old, learning every day. 2020 will be a big year.”

Gamboa was asked to explain what happened with his foot.

“I think I ruptured by Achilles tendon,” he said. “… I fell in the second round and hurt it. I was never able to put much pressure on it. … I’m a warrior, I kept going, but as soon as I felt it I knew it was ruptured. People could see me hopping around.

“I told my corner, ‘This is a problem.’ But I wanted to keep going.”

Gamboa also said he will keep fighting, although that could be difficult if he really did rupture his Achilles. And, of course, Davis, one of the most popular young fighters in the game, is just getting into high gear.

He mentioned next year. That could mean Leo Santa Cruz or another big name around his weight. He was asked about that after his C+ performance and suddenly went from humble to just a little bit cocky.

“I’m the top dog,” he said. “… Bring ‘em on.”

Strange night.