Boxing Tonight: Benavidez vs. Yarde, Norman vs. Haney – Live Results and Updates From Saudi Arabia

WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs) annihilated challenger  Anthony Yarde (27-4, 24 KOs) by a seventh-round knockout in an entertaining while it lasted fight on Saturday night in the main event of the Ring IV card at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The bloodied Yarde was down once in round seven from a storm of shots from ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez. The referee took a point away from Benavidez for hitting Yarde while he was down.

When the action resumed, Benavidez flurried on the defenseless Yarde, causing the referee Henry Afu to step in and halt the fight at 1:59 of round seven.

Undercard results

Devin Haney (33-0, 16 KOs) dethroned WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) by a highly questionable 12-round unanimous decision.  Haney got off to a good start, dropping Norman Jr. in the second round with a right hand. However, from that point on, Haney mostly held and retreated for the last 10 rounds. It was even more boring to watch than Devin’s previous fight against Jose Ramirez due to the holding.

The judges scored it 114-113, 117-110, and 116-111. This writer had Norman Jr. the winner 10-2.

WBC and WBO super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KO) had too much firepower for WBA champion Fernando Martinez (18-1, 9 KOs), wearing him down with power and pressure to knock him out with a left hook in round 10 to become a three-belt unified 115-lb champion.

Martinez started off well, loading up on huge power shots in round 1, connecting well against a surprised-looking ‘Bam’ Rodriguez. However, in the second round, Bam bloodied Martinez’s nose with a left hand, and continued to pummel him with shots.

Lightweight Abdullah Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) put in an impressive performance, out-punching and outworking Sam Noakes (17-1, 15 KOs) to win a 12-round unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBO lightweight title. Noakes was a bloody mess by the end, with blood leaking from a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads and a nosebleed.  The judges’ scores were 117-111, 115-113, and 115-113

Middleweight Vito Mielnicki Jr (22-1, 13 KOs) dominated Samuel Nmomah (21-1, 5 KOs) in, wearing him down with a constant attack to knock him out in the ninth round to win the vacant Global middleweight title. Mielnicki Jr. landed a beautiful left hook that flattened the 28-year-old Nmomah in the ninth. The referee stopped the fight after Nmomah got back to his feet. The time was 2:09 in round nine.