Benevidez Outpoints Morrell in a Classic Battle

Benevidez Outpoints Morrell in a Classic Battle

ByPremier Boxing Champions


The Mexican star silences all doubters with a brilliant performance in the PBC Pay-Per-View main event on Prime Video.

In a battle of unbeaten fighters in the primes of their careers, Mexican star David “El Monstro” Benavidez continued his rise to the top of the sport with a bruising unanimous decision victory over Cuban sensation David Morrell Jr. headlining a PBC Pay-Per-View event on Prime Video Saturday night from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With the victory, Benavidez retains his Interim WBC Light Heavyweight Title and picks up the WBA Light Heavyweight Title.

“This is ‘El Monstro’s’ world,” said Benavidez. “Shout out to Morrell, I knew he’d be tough and that’s why I prepared so hard for this. I’m happy we were able to give the fans a great show tonight.”

“It was a good fight,” said Morrell. “This is boxing, some days you win and some days you lose. Tonight was my turn. I’m young and I’ll keep pushing for another opportunity.”

With both fighters promising fireworks throughout the promotion, Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) and Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) backed up their words from the jump, engaging in a high-octane contest that saw each fighter provide the other with the stiffest competition of their careers so far. The early Fight of the Year frontrunner featured over 1000 combined punches thrown and ended with Benavidez earning the judges favor by scores of 118-108 and 115-111 twice.

After a back-and-forth start, Benavidez took control punch by punch, never letting Morrell breathe with his trademark series of thundering hooks and uppercuts. While the two fighters put forth a similar output of punches thrown (601 for Morrell vs. 553 for Benavidez), it was Benavidez who held a distinct edge in accuracy (40.5% vs. 27.5%) and shots landed (224 vs. 165) according to CompuBox. 

“I wasn’t surprised by anything he did because I knew he was a great fighter and that I had to prepare for everything,” said Benavidez. “I knew my defense had to be good. I actually thought he’d hit harder once we were in here. He was easier to hit than I expected. Every opportunity that I saw, I went for it.”

Morrell proved his championship mettle in defeat, and nearly put the momentum back in his favor in round 11 as he caught an off-balance Benavidez with a counter right hand that put him down for just the second time in his career. However, Morrell connected on a punch that was thrown after the bell ended round 11 and was deducted a point by referee Thomas Taylor.

After yet another action packed round in the 12th, the two rivals who had shared heated exchanges and altercations throughout the lead up to fight night, embraced and showed the mutual respect gained after sharing the ring.

“It was never bad blood for me,” said Morrell. “This moment feels great because we were able to give everyone a good show. I’m going to work my way back. We’ll watch this fight and learn from what I didn’t do well. We’ll practice more and train harder and earn another fight against Benavidez. I know I can beat him.”

After applauding Morrell’s efforts, Benavidez then set his sights on his continued rise at 175-pounds.

“I just want to be the best of my era,” said Benavidez. “Whoever I need to fight next, I’ll be ready for them. I want to unify all four titles, so if that’s next, then that’s next.”

In the co-main event, former unified champion Stephen Fulton Jr. (23-1, 8 KOs) captured the WBC Featherweight World Championship with an impressive unanimous decision (117-111 and 116-112 twice) victory over two-division world champion Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa (25-2-1, 19 KOs) in their championship rematch.

“It feels good,” said Fulton. “I’m a champion again and for everyone who doubted me, just keep supporting me how you’ve been supporting me, whether it’s negative or positive.”

“He won fair and square,” said Figueroa. “I’d love to fight him again, but right now I just have to go back to the drawing board and get the next one.”

Figueroa and Fulton met for a second time after their 2021 super bantamweight championship unification match stood out as one of the year’s best fights, won by Fulton via decision. In the rematch, the fighters returned to their familiar form, with Figueroa stalking Fulton and Fulton proving a deft counterpuncher.

This time, Fulton appeared to be the sharper fighter throughout, cleanly landing to the head and body consistently, even during moments where Figueroa would appear to have an advantage when pushing Fulton to the ropes. In his second fight with trainer Derek “Bozy” Ennis in his corner, Philadelphia’s Fulton became a two-division world champion on the strength of a 35% connect rate on power punches and by out landing Figueroa 214 to 143.

“I feel like he didn’t let enough shots go like he normally would,” said Fulton. “I think he slowed down in this division. His punch output was down from our first fight. I capitalized off of that, used my jab and listened to my corner. His power wasn’t anything different from the first fight.”

Fulton’s fast start proved to be the difference on the scorecards, as he won the first four rounds according to all three judges. With a new world title reign under way, Fulton stated his intention to take his time before focusing on his next target.

“I’m just gonna enjoy the victory and live in the moment,” said Fulton post fight. “Then we’ll weigh our options.”

Pay-per-view action also saw former world champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) edge out all-action contender Angel Fierro (23-3-2, 18 KOs) via unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 96-94) after 10 rounds of super lightweight action in an instant 2025 Fight of the Year contender that saw the fighters combine to throw 1,410 punches.

“I came here to fight and show the world the best of what I can do and I think I did that,” said Cruz. “I entertained the crowd and gave them a show. I’m so happy that I gave the fans a great fight with a lot of pressure like I always do and I’m proud to do it with my family here watching.”

“I came here to give the fans a great fight and leave it all in the ring,” said Fierro. “I don’t care about the judges, I care about the fans. But I do hope that ‘Pitbull’ gives me a rematch, because I think I deserve it.”

Cruz and Fierro lived up to their promise to give the fans an “all-out Mexican war” as they went toe-to-toe from the opening bell, throwing powerful shots right from the outset. Mexico City’s Cruz set the tone with a huge first round, landing over 50% of his shots, including a career-best 39 power shots.

Tijuana’s Fierro struck back in round three, landing a powerful right hook to the temple that knocked Cruz off balance and grabbed his attention, eventually leading to a wild final minute of the round that saw both fighters land huge blows. With the back-and-forth nature of the fight set early, both continued to fight in close range until the final bell.

Fierro was able to keep up his impressive activity throughout the fight, throwing 786 punches to Cruz’s 624, while Cruz out landed Fierro 248 to 238. True to form, the two combatants spent the final two rounds in a pitched toe-to-toe battle that ended with the crowd on its feet in appreciation for what they had witnessed.

“I trained for eight weeks and worked really hard to leave everything in the ring,” said Fierro. “My name will stand forever, because Angel Fierro did his thing tonight. I went into the ring with determination and I fought with my heart. We showed everything that Mexican boxing is all about tonight.”

“Fierro deserves all the respect in the world and I take my hat off to him,” said Cruz. “Thank you to all the fans who came to support me, because that’s who I fight for.”

Opening up the pay-per-view, rising Mexican star Jesus “Mono” Ramos (22-1, 17 KOs) put on an impressive display of body punching on his way to an eighth-round stoppage of former unified world champion Jeison Rosario (24-5-2, 18 KOs) in their middleweight attraction.

“This feels great,” said Ramos. “I was hoping to get the knockout instead of a TKO, but this works for me too. I’m just glad we were able to both come out of the ring healthy.”

The 23-year-old Ramos established a consistent body attack early and often, stalking his opponent around the ring on his way to landing 54 body shots across the first four rounds. With Rosario weary of the body shots, Ramos appeared to have him hurt early in round six when he mixed in a flurry of uppercuts that pushed Rosario to the ropes.

“Attacking the body was an important strategy,” said Ramos. “I wanted to break him down. He’s a big guy, so I wanted to take my time in there.”

Back on the attack in round seven, Ramos sent Rosario to the canvas late with a blistering straight left that wobbled Rosario before he hit the mat. Rosario was able to rise to his feet and stayed in the fight, but was ultimately unable to slow Ramos’ onslaught.

As the fight moved into round eight, Ramos continued to move forward and eventually broke through again with a massive right hook that looked to have Rosario hurt moments before referee Robert Hoyle jumped in and ended the fight at 2:18. After the emphatic victory, Ramos plans to resume his request for a 154-pound world championship.

“I want to go back down to 154 pounds and fight the best in the division,” said Ramos. “There’s a lot of talent at super welterweight and we’re looking to make all the big fights.”

Preceding the pay-per-view, a three-fight PBC on Prime Video lineup was topped by unbeaten Argentine Olympian Mirco Cuello (15-0, 12 KOs) delivering a dramatic final round stoppage over Christian Olivo (22-2-1, 9 KOs) in their WBA Featherweight Title Eliminator.

Bouncing back from the first knockdown of his career in round two, Cuello returned the favor in the 10th round, putting Olivo down with a vicious left hook to the body. While Olivo rose to his feet, Cuello dropped him again with a body shot, eventually causing referee Chris Flores to stop the action 2:01 into the round. Cuello trailed on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage (88-82, 87-83, 86-84).

The streaming presentation also featured WBA No. 1-rated middleweight Yoenli Feliciano Hernandez (7-0, 7 KOs) making a statement to the 160-pound division by controlling the action from start to finish against a game Angel Ruiz (19-3-1, 13 KOs) on his way to a fifth-round TKO (1:06).

Opening up the show, top prospect Curmel Moton (7-0, 6 KOs) scored a dominating third-round TKO over Frank Zaldivar (5-2, 3 KOs) in their lightweight battle. Fighting out of the Mayweather Promotions stable, Moton earned his fourth-straight stoppage with a flurry in round three that halted the fight 1:51 into the frame.

For a closer look at Benavidez vs Morrell, check out our fight night page. 





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