David Benavidez preserves his spot in line to fight Canelo Alvarez
Fulfilling the prophecies of most of boxing’s would-be psychics, super middleweight fighter David “Red Flag” Benavidez (24-0, 21 KO’s) prevailed in his latest in-ring contest. Following seven rounds of fun, albeit one-sided, action, Benavidez managed to stop New Jersey born boxer Kyrone “Shut It Down” Davis (16-2-1, 6 KO’s).
The win was crucial for the former WBC 168-pound champion as he is largely believed to be the frontrunner to land the next fight with undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. A sour performance against Davis would have no doubt placed his favorable position in jeopardy. Yet, now that he has officially taken care of business, Team Benavidez can continue pressing for Canelo.
Red Flag is looking especially marketable at the moment. He is a young, dominant, fan-friendly and undefeated two-time world champion. Including the recently scalped Davis, Benavidez is currently riding a five-fight knockout streak. Eight months ago, on March 13, the Arizonan drug Ronald Ellis into deep waters before drowning him in the murky depths of the eleventh. That bout with Ellis was actually a WBC title eliminator. And had Red Flag fought his original opponent, Jose Uzcategui, it would have been his second. Said to say, Benavidez has put in his work for the opportunity. Now, we’ll just have to see how Team Canelo plays their hand.
Like any loss, this one was a bitter pill for Kyrone Davis to swallow. Yet, even in defeat, Shut It Down handled himself well on the big stage. Ideally he should be able to flip this performance into landing another significant prizefight. For whatever it’s worth, during his post-fight interview, Davis was warmly embraced by the initially hostile crowd. Even in defeat, he definitely picked up a couple of fans.
THROW IN THE DAMN TOWEL!!
For the entirety of the first round, Davis bounced around and remained in constant retreat. With the mobile target, Red Flag was able to land a handful of jabs. Thankfully Davis settled down a bit in the second and held his ground a great deal more. Provided a more stationary target, Benavidez was able to setup some of his famous body work. For his part, Shut It Down was vigilantly searching for a nasty left hook. Toward the end of the period, both men ripped a series of high volume combinations
Continuing with the same pattern, in the third, Davis was increasingly more sedentary. Making himself more available in this fashion allowed Red Flag to get into a good groove with his jab and crank up the body assault. By the fourth round, Kyrone Davis was getting chewed on like some tasty barbecue wingdings and the writing was being brutally scrawled on the wall. During the final 45 seconds of the period, Red Flag rocked Davis with a bevy of hard hooks and uppercuts.
The fifth was something of a demoralizing round as David Benavidez picked apart and tore chunks out of Shut It Down’s body. Throughout the round, the menacing Red Flag marched forward wearing a maniacal grin, encouraging Davis to throw freely. The beating only intensified in the sixth as Benavidez burrowed into his foe’s gut like a malignant cancer. It really was testament to Davis’ heart and toughness that he neither went down or quit. The pressure was taken out of his hands when his chief second, Stephen Edwards, threw the towel in during the seventh. Now that he has secured the critical win in impressive fashion, it’ll be interesting to see if we get Benavidez versus Canelo Alvarez.
By: Bakari Simpson
