David Benavidez Makes His Move Onto The World Stage
David Benavidez became the youngest world champion in the sport in a surprisingly exciting bout against Ronald Gavril.
David Benavidez is only 20, and yet he has already been considered one of the most intriguing American prospects for a few years now. On Friday night he became the youngest current champion in all of boxing, and yet some feel his performance didn’t live up to the expectations that had been set for him. It is more fair to say that he rose to the challenge against a Ronald Gavril who ended up being better than the walkover opponent some had wrongly made him out to be.
The road to this title fight was a long and sordid tale. Badou Jack vacated the WBC World Super Middleweight when he moved up to 175 following his unification clash with James DeGale last January. Callum Smith was the WBC #1 ranked contender at the time and Anthony Dirrell was named as his dance partner for the title. This lead to a protracted negotiation period that culminated in Dirrell’s side winning a purse bid, with the intention of staging the bout on Dirrell’s home turf of Michigan. Smith balked at the prospect of fighting for the title under those circumstances and instead opted to join the World Boxing Super Series’ Super Middleweight bracket. David Benavidez then stepped in for Callum Smith, and then Dirrell had to exit the bout with an injury which resulted in Gavril’s spot in the title fight. TLDR: David Benavidez found himself in a title fight much sooner than he or his handlers expected due to a confluence of circumstances.
Ronald Gavril was dismissed as easy work for Benavidez by many, and the odds reflected that. This was more due to Benavidez’s recent resume than any honest assessment of Gavril. Benavidez was coming off a sensational stoppage over Rogelio ‘Porky’ Medina who had given James DeGale all he could handle in 2016. Meanwhile the Romanian Gavril holds no notable wins and has an upset loss to journeyman Elvin Ayala on his record. That said, informed followers of the sport know that he has a strong reputation out of The Mayweather Boxing Club and he has been fighting to prove himself since that shock loss. On Friday night he got his chance.
Once the bell rang for the first round Gavril signaled that he didn’t view himself as a prohibitive underdog. Benavidez came out strong as expected and, despite throwing more than twice as many punches, Gavril held him to a minimal number of punch connects. From the second round on Benavidez wouldn’t enjoy that level of activity advantage. Gavril topped Benavidez’s punch count by a healthy margin in the second round and began working an effective jab and crafty shots to the body.
This quick reversal in momentum created a judging dilemma. Gavril began to greatly exceed expectations in the middle rounds, but closes observers noted that Benavidez was still landing the better balance of punches from minute to minute. It started to sink in that this contest would very likely have wildly diverging scorecards.
At the start of the 10th, Benavidez began to show an increased tempo. The young Benavidez had never been the 12 round championship distance, and his activity in the 10th indicated that he had probably been tempering himself in the preceding rounds after it became clear he wasn’t going to get an early KO. The 10th was competitive, but Benavidez seemed to hurt Gavril and the tide appeared to have turned. In the 11th round ‘El Bandera Roja’ dropped the hammer. He more than doubled Gavril’s power punch count and more than tripled him in connects, hurting him many times along the way. Benavidez was unapologetically going for the KO.
Benavidez’s assault continued unabated… until 2 minutes and 5 seconds into the 12th round when Ronald Gavril reminded everyone in attendance that he was also fighting his hardest to win the title. Benavidez left his right hand low following a flush body shot connect and Gavril put him down with a short left hand.
Benavidez did not appear to have sustained lasting damage when he rose. He dominated the 12th overall, including the remaining time after he got back to his feet, but a knockdown is a knockdown. For those who saw this as a close contest, the 10–8 12th would have pushed things in Gavril’s favor.
When the official scores were read one scorecard had Gavril winning 116–111, with Benavidez winning on the other two scorecards by totals of 116–111 and 117–111. The later two cards seemed more accurate than the former, but the late knockdown certainly earned sentimental support for Gavril. Gavril more than proved his worth, and if justice is served he will get another title shot before his career is done.
By the close of business Friday night fans had gotten a much better fight than they bargained for and the deserving fighter went home with the title. David Benavidez certainly has more to learn but, as the youngest champion in the sport, there is every reason to believe that he will grow into his championship. On the eve of the defining moment in the career of Mexico’s biggest star, the next Mexican-American superstar made his first big step.
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