After losing his WBC 168lbs title on the scales by missing weight, David Benavidez made some amends inside the ring by halting Colombian puncher Roamer Alexis Angulo in the 10th round at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday night.
Angulo’s corner threw in the towel after Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) unleashed a vicious barrage of blows in the 10th after what amounted to a one-sided beatdown rather than a competitive spectacle. The Phoenix man systematically worked Angulo (26-2, 22 KOs) over for most of the contest and the outcome was never in doubt.
“I rate myself a solid eight,” said Benavidez. “I could have done some stuff better, but overall it was a great performance. I didn’t want to go too fast and 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 10.”
Benavidez apologised for not making the weight and accepted the blame was fully in his court. “Everything everyone said about me is true,” he said. “I should be a professional and come in on weight, but this time I couldn’t do it. It’s my first time not making weight in eight years of being a professional.
“I really have to talk to my promoter to see what’s next I’ll fight anybody to get back to the spot I was. You could see by this performance tonight, I could put on a great performance against anybody and people will pay to see that. I’m probably going to go right back into training camp to make sure I don’t miss weight.”
In the supporting feature, the outcome was less clearcut as Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (12-0, 10 KOs) won a contentious unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jackson Maríñez (19-1, 7 KOs) to capture the WBA interim lightweight title. Scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 118-110.
“That was pure robbery,” fumed Maríñez. “I won the fight. I outjabbed, outboxed him. You could tell he didn’t think he won the fight right afterwards. It’s a robbery.”
It was a bitter pill for Dominican Maríñez who seemingly outboxed his stiff-punching foe though the judges disagreed. Romero suffered a cut above his left eye in the ninth, which didn’t affect him unduly.
“I don’t think I had a bad performance,” said Romero. “I thought I won the fight. Regardless of everything, I’m the world champ now. I’m happy. He came out a little bit tougher and slicker than what I thought.
“But all he did was move around the entire fight. He didn’t even try to engage. It’s hard to knock out someone who doesn’t try to engage. I hurt him multiple times with body shots and a few hooks. There was one moment I hurt him with a right hand and he pulled my head down. It was just hard to finish him off. Yeah [I would give him a rematch]. He didn’t do anything special.”
In other action, heavyweight contender Otto Wallin (21-1, 14 KOs) stopped Travis Kauffman in the fifth due to an injury. Kauffman (32-4, 23 KOs) retore his left labrum at the start of the fifth and was unable to lift his arm. Afterwards, he announced his retirement.
“I was breaking him down. I had a lot left,” said Wallin. “Too bad he hurt his shoulder in the end, but I was breaking him and hitting him with good clean shots.”
Main image and all photos: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME.