DAVID BENAVIDEZ STOPS DAVID LEMIEUX IN DOMINATING THIRD-ROUND TKO
Once again, undefeated *David “El
Bandera Roja” Benav**í**dez* didn’t disappoint the hometown crowd as the
Phoenix native became a super middleweight champion for the third time in
dramatic fashion, scoring a third-round TKO against former world
champion *David
Lemieux* to win the vacant Interim WBC World Title on Saturday night at the
Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING*®* in
an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) beat and battered a gutsy Lemieux (43-5, 36 KOs)
from the opening bell knocking him to the canvas for the fifth time in his
career midway through the second round on a massive uppercut that nearly
sent Lemieux through the ropes. Lemieux somehow survived the onslaught of
Benavidez’s power punches and returned to action in the third round. But
Benavidez went right to work dishing out more and more punishment as
Lemieux’s corner stepped in and signaled surrender to referee Harvey Dock,
who waved off the fight with 1:31 remaining in the third round.
“Mike Tyson gave me the name ‘The Mexican Monster’, what do you think I’m
gonna do?” Benavidez told Jim Gray after the fight. “I just feel like I’m
the strongest 168 pounder. No one can mess with me.”
Benavidez staggered Lemieux in the closing seconds of round one, the big
blow a left hook that sent Lemieux into the ropes with Benavidez pouncing
with a 10-punch combination of uppercuts, hooks and straight jabs. Dock
later said he was about to stop the fight had the bell not rung to end the
round.
“Lemieux is a special type of breed,” said Benavidez, who landed 49 percent
of his total punches and 52 percent of his power punches. “This guy was
swinging until the end. I had to be on my p’s and q’s. He’s a tough
champion, so my hat’s off to him. He’s the only one with the guts to face
me.”
Lemieux never backed down and told Gray he was impressed with Benavidez.
“I’m good, Benavidez is a hell of a fighter,” Lemieux said. “I congratulate
him. After the first round I was okay, he had gotten me with some good
shots. I tried to come back, but he’s a very good fighter.”
Benavidez said he wants the best the 168-pound division has to offer. “I’m
waiting for [Caleb Plant, Jermall Charlo, David Morrell] to sign the
contract. Them bitches know what’s up. I’m right here waiting for them.
I’ll put myself up against everyone. I guarantee I’m knocking everyone out.
“I can get better everywhere. You can always learn. It only gets
better from here. I’m just going to keep working. Facing tough guys like
Lemieux just pushes me to keep moving to the next level.”
In the co-feature, hard-hitting Cuban prospect *Yoelvis G**ó**mez *had his
knockout streak ended at five, but still dominated Mexico’s *Jorge Cota* in
a 10-round super welterweight shutout. The scores were 100-90 three times.
Now living in Las Vegas, the 24-year-old Gómez (6-0, 5 KOs) went the
distance for the first time in his young professional career. He staggered
Cota at times with unrelenting body shots and effective power punches.
“I wanted to steal the show, but I know that all Mexican fighters are
warriors, and Cota was a warrior tonight and was able to take me the
distance,” said Gómez, who was fighting for the first time with noted
trainer Ismael Salas in his corner.
Gómez, the son of an Olympic Gold Medalist, threw almost 100 more jabs than
Cota on the night. “I found out today that you have to be ready to go for
all 10 rounds,” said Gómez, who had fought just seven rounds in his five
pro bouts. “The knockout didn’t come tonight, but I was conditioned and
prepared to go the distance.
“On Monday I’ll start up again with my trainer to see what I can do better
in my next my fight. Thank you to all the fans tonight, I love Arizona!”
The 34-year-old Cota (30-6, 27 KOs) said he was hurt by Gómez’s
hard-hitting body shots. “The judges’ decision was what it was, it’s
pointless to talk about it now. Yoelvis is a strong fighter and he hit me
hard on my left rib, I think he hurt me there. I’ll get some x-rays to see
what the damage was. He kept up his consistency and his punching power
throughout the entire fight. I was at 50 percent after the rib injury, but
credit to him for having fought like he did.”
Rising Dominican prospect *Luis “The Twist” **Núñez *danced his way to a
unanimous decision over fellow unbeaten *Jonathan Fierro *in an exciting
and close 10-round featherweight bout in the SHOWTIME opener. The scores
were 96-94 in favor of Núñez on all three judges’ scorecards.
The 22-year-old Núñez (17-0, 12 KOs) landed 44 percent of his power punches
along with 47 body punches as the game 18-year-old Fierro (13-1, 12 KOs)
from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, tasted defeat for the first time in his
young career.
“I kept my distance, hit him when I had to and built up my equity round by
round,” said Núñez. “Now, I’m ready for anybody they want to put in front
of me next. Bring them on!”
Núñez, who is promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz, was victorious over his
third-straight undefeated fighter. He had won his two previous fights on
the popular prospect series* SHOBOX: The New Generation**®*.
It was a fight marred by several clash of heads that cut both fighters but
didn’t do major damage and ultimately didn’t have an effect on the outcome.
“I felt I beat him,” said Fierro, who went to the body early on and used
his left jab effectively throughout the fight. “The ref was clearly on his
side – constantly interrupting the fight. I would have knocked him out,
otherwise.”
The event was promoted by Sampson Boxing and TGB Promotions.
