Benavidez was solid and workmanlike in the easy victory over the former WBC champion but never dazed Gvozdyk and despite winning a minor title, Benavidez may be better suited (and he said he is considering this at the post-fight press conference) returning to super middleweight for the time being and hoping Canelo Alvarez will eventually decide to face him.
Benavidez won on scorecards of 119-109, 117-111, and 116-112, my score agreeing with the middle score.
In two fights that I have yet to watch, one title was retained and an undefeated contender was surprised with his first loss.
Carlos Adames retained his WBC middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha.
Adames doesn't really have a big fight in the division, so look for Adames to have a few of these fights against Gausha types that aren't quite good enough to win a title.
Scores of 119-11 and 118-110 times two for Adames.
Gary Antuanne Russell was a big favorite to win a minor junior welterweight title against former WBA champ Alberto Puello and set himself up for bigger things in the future.
Instead, Puello survived an eighth-round holding deduction to pull a surprise split decision win for the minor title.
Russell has all the talent in the world but like his brother and trainer, former WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell, he doesn't fight more than once a year, and at the top level fighting that infrequently will eventually cost you in sharpness.
Scores for Puello were 114-113 and 115-112 and for Russell 118-109.
PBC and boxing observers have been glowing in their reviews on middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia and his potential but Garcia hit a roadblock in his fight against veteran Kyrone Davis, with Davis winning a deserved but surprising split decision.
Davis couldn't miss with his right hand and while Garcia was persistent with his aggression, Davis held serve until the final two rounds when Garcia rallied and perhaps if this fight were a twelve-rounder, Garcia could have snatched victory.
Scores for Davis at 97-93 x2 (same as mine) with an awful score for Garcia of 98-92, which is beyond terrible in my opinion.
In Puerto Rico, a huge upset occurred as Australia's Liam Paro upset Subriel Matias in the homecoming fight for Matias and took away the IBF junior welterweight title.
Paro lost a point in the seventh round for hitting behind the head and while Paro's move, jab, and grab offense wasn't exciting, it was very effective against Matias, who rallied down the stretch but ran out of time.
Scores for Paro 116-111 and 115-112 x2, I had it closer for Paro 114-113.
In London from Boxxer/Peacock, Chris Billam-Smith avenged his only loss and retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a unanimous decision outdoors at the home field of Crystal Palace.
This fight wasn't as exciting as their first fight and Riakporhe didn't throw enough punches to overcome the more active Billam-Smith.
Riakporhe lost a point in the final round for headbutting but that had no effect on the scorecards- all for Billiam-Smith 116-111 (same as mine) and 115-112.
Boxing Challenge
Ramon Malpica: 88 Pts (8)
TRS: 72 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 46 Pts (3)
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