David Benavidez TKOs Ronald Ellis and Other Results from the Mohegan Sun

Former super middleweight titlist David Benavidez out-worked Ronald Ellis and forced a stoppage in the 11^th round to win by technical knockout and keep his names on the list of possible marquee fights.

Despite losing the WBC world title twice on the scales, Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) remains undefeated in the boxing ring and proved it in his win over the dangerous Ellis (18-2-2, 12 KOs) at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.

Benavidez showed he has not lost any of the tools that took him to the top.

Behind speedy combination punches Benavidez took the lead and kept it against Ellis who promised a knockout win. It didn’t happen.

Ellis took plenty of power shots from Benavidez but refused to wilt. He plowed through the incoming fire but was unable to mount a consistent offense. It proved his undoing in the 11^th round as Benavidez unloaded blow after blow until referee Johnny Callas stopped the fight at 2:03 of the round.

“Hats off to him, he’s a tough guy. It was a little later than I wanted but a stoppage is still a stoppage. I hope the fans got a good show tonight,” Benavidez said.

Now the two-time former champion realizes he’s in the hunt for one of the most stacked weight divisions in prizefighting.

“I want all the big guys,” Benavidez added. “Speaking for the fans too, they would love to see me against all the big guys because as you can see, I love throwing punches. I love stopping people so me versus any big name would be an amazing fight. I want [Jermall] Charlo, Canelo Alvarez, Caleb Plant, all of them.”

Elimination Fight

A WBA lightweight elimination battle saw Mexico City’s Isaac Cruz (21-1-1, 15 KOs) defeat Argentina’s Matias Romero (24-1, 8 KOs) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds of a horrible fight that featured a lot of holding.

Cruz, 22, despite being the much shorter fighter was able to use his aggressive pressure style to keep Romero on the move. And when they two fighters got close the Argentine resorted to holding instead of fighting. That was the theme of the fight.

After 12 rounds Cruz won by unanimous decision 114-113, 115-112 and 118-109. No thanks to referee Harvey Dock who refused to deduct a point from Romero for holding. Yet he took a point from Cruz for a low blow that was not very low.

“He was a fighter who didn’t want to exchange punches,” Cruz said in reference to the persistent clinching. “I was very fed up with the clinches—there was never a warning toward him. I did my best out there. Not the best way I wanted to do it but thank God we won the fight and we’re taking the victory home.”

Other Bouts

Terrell Gausha (22-2-1) defeated the much taller Jamontay Clark (15-2-1) by knockout in the second round of their super welterweight clash.

Despite the three-inch height advantage and fighting out of a southpaw stance, Clark discovered that Gausha was not shy about fighting at a relatively close distance. After a tentative first round both measured each other carefully.

Gausha, who had formerly fought for a world title and against elite competition, feinted and jabbed. But after Clark fired a right jab and left cross, Gausha countered with a perfect right cross to the chin and down went the taller Clark. Though he beat the count it was clear that Gausha had a slightly wobbly fighter in front of him and referee Arthur Mercante stopped the fight at 2:44 of round two.

The win puts Gausha back in the super welterweight hunt.

I was staying patient, and I fought five southpaws in a row. It was the experience,” said Gausha who trains in Southern California. “I stayed in range and landed a big right hand.”

A welterweight bout saw Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (18-0,10 KOs) stop Javier Flores (15-3) in the end of round three to win by technical knockout.

In a super bantamweight fight Michael Angeletti (2-0) defeated Fernando Ibarra (2-6) by decision after four rounds.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / Showtime

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