Two-time WBC super-middleweight champion David Benavidez paved the way for another crack at his old crown with an 11th round stoppage of Ronald Ellis in their title eliminator at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday night.
Mexican-American Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) was in dominant form and led 99-91 and 98-92 (twice) before the referee’s intervention in the penultimate round.
Afterwards, Benavidez immediately began beating the drum for major fights against Canelo Alvarez, Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo. In theory, this eliminator win over Ellis should lead to a shot at current WBC title holder Canelo in 2022.
“I rate my performance pretty good but I know I could have done better,” said Phoenix’s Benavidez afterwards. “Ronald Ellis is a tough competitor. I just hope the fans like what they saw. I threw a lot of combinations, punches in bunches. There were a lot of times I thought Ellis was going to quit but he didn’t. Hats off to him, he’s a tough guy. It was a little later than I wanted but a stoppage is still a stoppage. I hope the fans got a good show tonight.
“I want all the big guys. Speaking for the fans too, they would love to see me against all the big guys because as you can see, I love throwing punches. I love stopping people so me versus any big name would be an amazing fight. I want [Jermall] Charlo, Canelo Alvarez, Caleb Plant, all of them.”
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.
Ellis made a fast start, but it was mostly one-way traffic as expected with the powerful Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) employing a dominant jab and unleashing his heavy hands on a commendably durable foe.
The game Ellis (18-2-2, 12 KOs) had never been knocked down or stopped in his career, but was eventually forced to cover up on the ropes in the 11th before referee Johnny Callas intervened.
“I could have popped the jab and controlled things a little bit more and not let him smother me,” added Ellis. “Hell yeah, I wanted to finish. I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. I could have moved a little bit more and not taken so many shots to the head. Hats off to him. He did what he had to do. He never hurt me, that’s the funny thing. I took a lot of shots but he didn’t damage me or have me super hurt. I never thought about quitting.”
In the chief support,, highly-rated Mexican Isaac Cruz (21-1-1, 15 KOs) trumped Argentina’s Matias Romero (24-1, 8 KOs) on the cards in a WBA lightweight title eliminator.
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.
Scores were a too wide 118-109, 115-112 and 114-113 in a scrappy encounter, permeated by Romero’s clinching and spoiling tactics. Cruz, who was deducted a point in the sixth for a low blow, finished strongly in the last three rounds to seal the verdict.
“I’m not happy about the style of the fight but I am satisfied I took the victory home and we’ve come to the No. 1 spot in the WBA,” said Cruz. “I didn’t know what was going to happen [with the scorecards]. We forced the fight at all times and it would have been very impossible for the judges to do something to me when I was the one pushing the fight.”
In the evening’s opening bout, Cleveland’s Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) won a battle of Ohio with a second-round stoppage of Cincinnati’s Jamontay Clark (15-2-1, 7 KOs) at 154lbs.
Gausha dropped Clark with a counter right hand in the second before forcing referee Arthur Mercante’s intervention on resumption.
Main image and all photos: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.