David Benavidez thwarted Anthony Yarde’s dreams of winning the world title in his third attempt, stopping the Briton in the seventh round in Riyad.

Yarde was twice denied glory against Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev respectively, and Benavidez ensured he would not be joyful the third time around, eliminating him in the seventh game before the referee intervened after responding to a series of punches.

Benavidez (31-0, 25 KO) pressed from the opening bell, but Yarde (27-4, 24 KO) counterattacked well in the early exchanges.

The “Mexican Monster” took a southpaw stance in the third round and upped the ante, landing a left uppercut and connecting with a left hook.

Yarde remained competitive but struggled to contain the 28-year-old’s relentless pressure.

The Londoner felt the bullets passing him and quickly started round six, detonating a brutal right hand that forced Benavidez to retreat.

The 34-year-old released the hands of an Arizona man pinned to the ropes.

However, the onslaught was short-lived, with Benavidez finishing the round robust and Yarde tiring as he slumped back to the corner at the end of the round.

Benavidez once again pinned the challenger to the ropes, and Yarde fell to the canvas after a series of combinations in the seventh set.

Yarde got up from the canvas and the champion was deducted a point for punching Yarde while he was on the ground, but he was relentless and after pouncing on the “Beast from the East” again, Benavidez stunned him with a devastating left hook.

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After another left hook landed, referee Hector Afu stepped in and Benavidez defended his “regular” WBC and WBA delicate heavyweight world titles.

Despite the lure of an undisputed 175-pound title shot against Dmitry Bivol, Benavidez, who secured his first distance win at delicate heavyweight, announced he would move up to cruiserweight to face unified champion Zurdo Ramirez on May 2 in Las Vegas.

Haney outclasses Norman and becomes the welterweight champion

Devin Haney challenged Brian Norman Jr to become the WBO welterweight champion.

Haney (33-0, 15 KO), following a points victory over Jose Ramirez in May, dominated proceedings and stunned Norman (28-1, 22 KO) in the second round, defeating the Atlanta fighter with a straight right.

Norman who spectacularly he knocked out Jin Sasaki in the fifth round in Japan in June, he had difficulty pinning “The Dream”, and despite a surge towards the end, Haney showed far too much variety and precision, resulting in an outright winner on the scorecards.

One of the judges somehow scored it way too close to 114-113, but two judges awarded Haney the novel champion and the three-division title 117-110, 116-111.

Bam Rodriguez knocked out Martinez in the super flyweight division

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez unified the super flyweight division by knocking out Fernando Martinez in the 10th round.

Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KO), who entered the fight as the WBC and WBO champion, clearly added the WBA belt to Martinez.

After dominating the competition with a masterful display of skill and accuracy, the 25-year-old added an exclamation point to his performance by smashing Martinez (18-1, 9 KO) with a robust left hand, who was unable to beat the referee’s count.

“Bam” could now claim undisputed glory against IBF champion Willibaldo García.

Mason defeats Noakes to become World Champion

Abdullah Mason won the vacant WBO lightweight title but was put to the test by Sam Noakes in the fight of the year.

Mason (20-0, 17 KO) dominated the initial stages of the fight, and in the third round the Briton’s legs were wobbly.

Noakes (17-1, 15 KO) survived a fierce round, but after clashing heads he suffered a cut, which resulted in a immense wound above his left eye.

The Maidstone man didn’t let this discourage him and landed a series of brutal right hands in the fifth minute.

The 28-year-old forced the American to shoot him, but on January 10 he had to survive a storm during which Mason injured him with an attack on the head and body.

Noakes recovered in the 11th minute and both fighters exchanged vigorously with the fight going on the scorecards.

One judge scored the fight 117-111, while two others scored it 115-113 and crowned Mason the youngest busy world champion at the age of 21.

Undercard remaining

In another development, Vito Mielnicki (22-1, 12 KO) won the vacant WBO Global middleweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Samuel Nmomah (21-1, 5 KO).

Saudi Arabian prospects Mohammed Alakel (7-0, 1 KO) extended his undefeated record with a unanimous decision over super featherweight Jailing Li (7-6, 4 KO).

In the super middleweight division, Julio Porras Ruiz (13-0-1, 9 KO) and Pius Mpenda (11-4-2, 5 KO) drew, while Saudi lightweight Sultan Almohammed (2-0, 1 KO) secured his second professional victory by defeating Umesh Chavan (3-2-1) in the first round.

Juan Perez (1-0) scored four rounds in his debut against super flyweight Barker Ssewanyana (1-2-1).

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