By: Sean Crose
WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo faced Jose Benavidez in a 10 round non-title bout Saturday night in Las Vegas. The fight, which was the co-main event of the David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade pay per view card, was supposed to be held at a catchweight of no more than 163 pounds. Charlo, however, didn’t make the weight, coming in over three pounds heavier than he was supposed to. The match, however, was allowed to go on nonetheless, after Charlo agreed to provide Benavidez a portion of his own pay for the bout.
The 28-2-1 Benavidez started pressing the action against the 32-0 Charlo right off the bat in the first. By the end of the round, however, it was Charlo who was dishing out the punishment. Benavidez had his moments in the second, but it was Charlo’s jab which told the tale. The third was competitive, with Benavidez once again having his moments, but Charlo’s jab based strategy continued to be effective, as well. Indeed, that jab began to tune Benavidez up in the fourth.
Benavidez had a good fifth. Charlo, however, may have had a better one. Benavidez’ flurries were no doubt effective, but Charlo’s masterful and powerful jab continued to find their mark repeatedly. The truth was that Benavidez simply didn’t look to be strong enough to do any damage to Charlo. The sixth, simply put, was target practice for Charlo. With that being said, Benavidez had a strong seventh for himself. The same couldn’t be said for the eighth, where Benavidez took a beating.
Benavidez fought bravely in the ninth, as he had the entire fight…but Charlo was just too good for him. Benavidez was the more active of the two in the tenth, but Charlo frankly didn’t seem to care. He had essentially put a beating on Charlo and it was hard to imagine the judges getting it wrong after the final bell had rung. And indeed the judges did their job correctly, rewarding Charlo with a unanimous decision win.