On Saturday at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, David Benavidez punctuated an action-packed card with a dominant seventh-round TKO victory over a game but overmatched Anthony Yarde.
Benavidez’s hand speed, power, and accuracy were too much for Yarde as he was battered before referee Hector Afu mercifully intervened to stop the fight. Benavidez dropped Yarde earlier in the decisive round but was deducted a point for hitting his opponent as he was on the mat.
It didn’t matter. Even with the deducted point, there was no question Yarde’s time in the ring was nearly done. Benavidez shook off the point deduction and savagely finished his business later in the frame.
Yarde was clearly beaten and he did not offer any resistance or dispute to the referee’s decision. Quite honestly, Yarde’s corner should have made the decision even before Afu called an end to the fight.
Once Yarde was dropped, there was no coming back on Benavidez. All the fight had been pounded out of the Brit and there was nothing left for him to do but take unnecessary punishment.
The win ran Benavidez’s record to 32-0 and he now has 25 victories by KO. Yarde dropped to 27-4 and this was the kind of beating that the 34-year-old may not be able to shake off moving forward.
As for Benavidez, he announced plans to move up to cruiserweight to challenge Gilberto Ramirez for his WBO cruiserweight title next year. If Benavidez can accomplish his goal, he’ll be in a position to capture a world title in three divisions. Stay tuned. Here’s what happened on the rest of the Ring IV card.
Devin Haney def. Brian Norman Jr. via unanimous decision
Haney won a world title in his fourth weight class in the co-main event. He dropped Norman in the second round and outboxed him through enough of the remainder of the fight to get the nod from all three judges.
Norman’s lack of defense and head movement were exposed and Haney looked strong—at least for the first six rounds—in his debut as a welterweight. A clash with Ryan Garcia or Conor Benn could be next, or Haney could elect to fight someone like Jack Catterall in his next fight.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez def. Fernando Martinez via 10th-round KO
Bam continues to prove why he is one of the best fighters in the world. After a slow start in the first round, Rodriguez kicked things into overdrive and ran through Martinez in dominant fashion to retain his WBO and WBC super flyweight championships.
In the 10th, a massive left hand dropped the challenger and he did not beat the referee’s count to 10.
Abdullah Mason def. Sam Noakes via unanimous decision
Mason became the youngest world champion in the sport as he outfought Noakes en route to a win on the scorecards. This was a brawl, though it didn’t need to be. Mason could have won this fight easily with his speed, jab, and superior athleticism, but he likes to brawl.
Against a better fighter, it might have, and may still, cost him, but against Noakes he put on the kind of show that got Turki Alalshikh out of his front-row seat. It opened an exciting card that Benavidez finished with a bang.