David Benavidez made a solid but unspectacular move to the lightweight heavyweight division, beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk by unanimous decision over 12 rounds.
The judges scored the fight 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109 for Benavidez.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) started the fight looking in complete control of the 37-year-old Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KO), but he seemed to fade a bit as the rounds went on, which was uncharacteristic of him in other recent fights.
Benavidez sounded, as you might expect, elated with the victory, but he didn’t give himself a particularly glowing review or anything.
“Honestly, I think it’s a seven out of 10,” Benavidez said, assessing his own performance. “Oleksandr is a great fighter, but I felt I had a great fight. A tough competitor, we are ready to move on. These guys hit it a little harder here, I had to feel it.
Benavidez said he’s still considering returning to 168 pounds if he can get a “title fight,” by which he means Canelo or some vacant title, but he intends to fight in both divisions, whatever that might mean.
Alberto Puello scored a split decision over Gary Antuanne Russell, winning the WBC interim super lightweight title. Puello (23-0, 10 KO) won two cards with scores of 114-113 and 115-112, and the third was wide to Russell (17-1, 17 KO) with scores of 118-109. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored the fight 114-113 for Puello, who had a point docked for a foul in the ninth round.
In the first pay-per-view bout, Carlos Adames defended his WBC middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha. The scores were 118-110 twice and Adames 119-109, which might have been a bit unfair to Gausha (24-4-1, 12 KO), but the right man won the fight. Adames is currently 24-1 (18 KOs).