David Benavidez Destroys David Lemieux In Three Rounds

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Former two-time super middleweight world titlist David Benavidez has earned a shot at undisputed 168-pound world champion Canelo Alvarez.

Fighting two weeks after the former pound-for-pound king dominated and outboxed by Dmitriy Bivol in Las Vegas in an attempt to become a two-time light heavyweight champion of the world, Benavidez made his case that he should be next in line to fight Canelo for all the belts, not Gennadiy Golovkin.

Benavidez sent his fans home happy and early as he served up breakfast, lunch, and dinner in less than nine minutes with a third-round mastication of David Lemieux Saturday night at Gila River Arena to claim the WBC interim super middleweight title.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime

Canelo and Golovkin previously agreed to fight in a September 17 trilogy. However, after the loss to Bivol, it's unclear what Alvarez will do next. The Mexican superstar has a contractual right to face Bivol again. However, Alvarez has yet to trigger the rematch clause. Canelo may want to think twice about facing either fighter after this one-sided beating from Benavidez, which was reflected in the unofficial Compubox statistics. Benavidez landed 74 of 151 punches (49 percent), while Lemieux connected on just 24 of 83 shots (29 percent)

The 24-year-old Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs), who was fighting in his home state for the second fight in a row, blasted Lemieux with a crisp left hook in the waning seconds of the opening round and had Lemieux out on his feet. However, he was saved by the bell.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime

In the second round, Lemieux had no such luxury as Benavidez smashed him with a left-right combination that knocked him back on his feet.  However, Lemieux continued to come forward, looking for the home run shot that made him famous. But tonight, he was just outgunned by the heavy artillery behind the fists of “El Bandera Roja.”

Benavidez nailed Lemieux with another left-right combination and finished off with a left uppercut that sent Lemieux through the ropes for the fight's first knockdown. Lemieux beat the count and continued to trade with Benavidez for the rest of the round but continued to get beaten to the punch, leaving him a bloodied mess.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime

Lemieux came out firing in round three with jabs, but Benavidez was nowhere to be found. Both fighters exchanged heavy blows again, but Benavidez's shots were doing most of the damage. Lemieux's corner then threw in the towel to save their fighter from himself. The official time of the stoppage was 1:31.

Yoelvis Gomez dominates Jorge Cota and earns a unanimous decision victory

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Highly-regarded Cuban prospect Yoelvis Gomez went the distance for the first time in his career on Saturday. Gomez outpointed seasoned veteran Jorge Cota over ten rounds to win a shutout unanimous decision Saturday evening at Gila River Arena. The bout served as chief support to the 12-round main event featuring the battle of the David's – David Benavidez taking on David Lemieux. All three judges scored the bout 100-90 for Nunez (6-0, 5 KOs).

The unbeaten Cuban southpaw connected with a left hand to start the contest. Gomez hurt Cota with an overhand right in round three, but instead of trying to finish his opponent off, he threw Cota to the canvas, which was properly ruled a slip by referee Wes Milton. Cota's best moment of the fight came after the bell when he accidentally nailed Milton while he was trying to break the fighters apart. However, he displayed an exorbitant chin and took it like a champ.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime

The rest of the fight was one-way traffic, although Cota (30-5, 24 KOs) had brief success in round five, connecting with jabs and right hands. Gomez marches on with his young career while Cota suffers his second consecutive loss.

Luis Nunez edges out a unanimous decision to open up the Showtime telecast

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Luis Nunez (17-0, 12 KOs) outpointed Jonathan Fierro (13-1, 12 KOs) over ten rounds to remain undefeated to kick off the main card. It was an absolute firefight throughout, with both fighters hurting one another over the course of the bout. However, it was Nunez who did the more respectable work as all three judges scored it 96-94 in his favor.

Non-televised undercard results

On the non-televised undercard, former welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) defeated Todd Manuel (20-20-1, 6 KOs) via a 10-round unanimous decision in their junior middleweight bout despite getting knocked down in the final round. Jesus Ibarra (14-0, 7 KOs) stopped Ernesto Guerrero (33-34, 23 KOs) in the first round of a scheduled six-round junior lightweight contest. Hometown kid Elijah Garcia (11-0, 9 KOs) dropped Rowdy Montgomery (7-4-1, 5 KOs) twice in the third round en route to a six-round unanimous decision. Unbeaten 140-pound prospect Richardson Hitchins (14-0, 6 KOs) stopped Angel Garcia (12-11-3, 5 KOs).