Benavidez, Haney, ‘Bam’Rodriguez, and Mason Bring Home the Bacon in Riyadh

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which has elbowed aside Las Vegas as the premier destination for big fights, hosted four world title fights tonight that aired worldwide on DAZN pay-per-view. Two of the four ended in stoppages including the main go between WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde,

Benavidez, the best fighter from Phoenix, Arizona, since Michael Carbajal – and potentially the best fighter ever from that Arizona metropolis – gave London’s Anthony Yarde a boxing lesson before the referee waived it off in the seventh stanza, moments after Benavidez knocked Yarde to the canvas with a flurry of punches and was then docked a point for hitting Yarde while he was on the canvas.

This started out as a tactical fight, but by the end of the second round “El Bandera Roja” was in complete control. With the victory, he pushed his record to 31-0 (25 KOs). The third time was no charm for Yarde (27-4) who had come up short in title fights with Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev.

It says here that Benavidez is now the top dog in the 175-pound division, having forged ahead of Dmitry Bivol and Beterbiev, both of whom are dealing with injuries and are getting long in the tooth (Beterbiev turns 41 in January). After the fight, Benavidez, who won his first world title at age 20 as a super middleweight, announced that he would leave the division to challenge 48-1 cruiserweight title-holder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez on Cinco de Mayo weekend 2026, presumably in Las Vegas.

Norman vs Haney

Devin Haney, in his first assignment as a true welterweight, captured a world title in a third weight class with a unanimous decision over previously undefeated Brian Norman Jr. The judges had it 117-110, 116-111, and 114-113. However, Haney didn’t win any new fans in a contest that turned into something of a hugfest after Haney knocked Norman down hard in the second round with a straight right hand that appeared to break Brian Norman’s nose.

Norman, coming off beatdowns of Giovani Santillan, Derrieck Cuevas, and Jin Sasaki that boosted his ledger to 28-0 (22) entered the bout in excellent form. Although this was a true 50/50 fight from an odds perspective, Haney’s victory had the scent of an upset as there was a wide sentiment that he had been emotionally scarred by the Ryan Garcia fight, a match in which Haney was on the canvas three times but preserved his undefeated record when the New York Athletic Commission retroactively declared the bout a “no contest.”

Haney had too much class for Norman tonight while improving his “official” record to 33-0, but it is telling that each of his last 12 fights went the full 12 rounds.

Rodriguez vs Martinez

San Antonio’s Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez turned in another masterclass, taking Argentina’s Fernando Martinez to school before KOing him in the 10^th round with a counter left hook. With the victory, Rodriguez, a 12-1 favorite, improved to 23-0 (16 KOs) and added Martinez’s WBA super flyweight belt to his WBC and WBO hardware. (The fourth-piece of the title belongs to Mexico’s lightly-regarded Willibaldo Garcia.)

For what it’s worth, CompuBox credited Rodriguez with landing more than twice as many punches (276-131). A 2016 Olympian, the 34-year-old Martinez was unbeaten as a pro (18-0), but was out of his league against “Bam”, a textbook fighter who resembles four-division title-holder Mikey Garcia in certain aspects – no surprise as Mikey’s older brother Robert Garcia trained them both.

Mason vs Noakes

In a Fight of the Year contender, baby-faced, 21-year-old Cleveland southpaw Abdullah Mason showed that he is something more than a smooth operator, gritting out a 12-round unanimous decision over England’s teak-tough Sam Noakes.

Although there were no knockdowns, this was a hugely fan-friendly fight with several momentum swings. Mason had the best of the early-going. He rocked Noakes in round two and again in a round three, a round in which an accidental clash of heads left Noakes with a bad cut over his left eye. But Sam had a strong round five and since Abdullah had never gone past six rounds, it seemed that the Englishman, who was rated the harder puncher and, akin to Mason, had lost very few rounds in his career, was well-positioned to take command. However, Mason’s punches were cleaner as the rounds progressed and he worked the body much more effectively.

Noakes was hanging on by a thread at the end of the 10^th and it appeared that a TKO was imminent. But lo and behold, the Englishman rebounded with a strong 11^th. At the end, the American had his hand raised, prevailing by scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.

It was the first pro loss for Noakes who had stopped 15 of his previous 17 opponents. A roofer by trade who grew up in government subsidized housing in Maidstone, Kent, Noakes – one of two fighting brothers – returns to England with record smudged but his reputation intact. With the victory, Abdullah Mason becomes boxing’s youngest world title-holder. Mason, 20-0 (17) copped the WBC lightweight title that was stripped from Keyshawn Davis when Davis came in overweight for his title defense against Edwin de Los Santos, a match that would be cancelled.

Also

In a middleweight contest slated for “10,” ever-improving Vito “White Magic” Mielnicki Jr, the pride of Roseland, New Jersey, improved to 22-1-1 (13 KOs) with a ninth-round stoppage of Nigerian-Italian campaigner Samuel Nmomah (21-1). Mielnicki, 23, fought the last four rounds with a damaged right hand.

The Garden State product, who is trained by Ronnie Shields and recently split with Top Rank, knocked Nmomah down hard with a right-left combination in the waning seconds of the ninth frame. Nmomah made it to his feet but referee Hector Afu didn’t like his body language and waived the fight off. Because the count continued after the ball, the official time was 3:09 of round nine.

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