David Benavidez put on a clinic on his way to handing David Morrell the first loss of his career and unifying the WBA and WBC light heavyweight titles in the main event of a boxing card at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 knockouts), a Las Vegas resident, pressured the power-punching Morrell (11-1, nine KOs) at every turn on his way to a unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 115-111, 115-111 and 118-108.
A wild sequence at the end of the 11th round nearly changed the trajectory. Morrell scored a brief knockdown and Benavidez responded with a huge flurry in the closing seconds before Morrell unleashed a nasty right hand that dazed Benavidez after the bell.
Morrell was docked a point, heightening the drama for the 12th, but he couldn’t find another magical moment in the final three minutes.
Morrell was feeling himself early on and even showboated a bit after a couple of big shots, but he often had to take two to land one. Several of the Benavidez combinations included a least one body blow, and those started to take their toll on Morrell in the later rounds.
