David Benavidez Pummels Ronald Gavril To Retain WBC Super Middleweight Title

The first encounter between David Benavidez and Ronald Gavril was an extremely close fight. The rematch was anything but that.

In a fight that many had expected would be another close fight on the scorecards, Benavidez made sure there was no doubt he was the better fighter. In the co-main event of the February 17 Showtime Boxing card, Benavidez retained his WBC super middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Gavril (120-108, 120-108, 119-109).

The fight was turned into a mismatch almost right out of the gate. Benavidez unleashed a flurry of power punches and body shots. Gavril spent the majority of the fight with a bloody face and busted up nose and was nothing more than a moving target for the young Benavidez. 

Gavril did fight back throughout the bout and was never knocked down, but he never posed a significant threat to Benavidez. Benavidez connected 315 of 942 total punches (37 percent) while Gavril managed to land 176 of 757 punches (23 percent).

Benavidez became the youngest super middleweight world champion in history last year when he beat Gavril by split decision. Benavidez was set to get a unanimous decision win in the first fight, but Gavril scored a knockdown in the 12th round. The WBC ordered a rematch between the two, which set the stage for Benavidez's first world title defense. The WBC title was vacated when former champion Badou Jack elected to move up in weight to challenge for the WBC light heavyweight title.