David Benavidez stopped the former two-weight world champion Demetrius Andrade to successfully defend the World Boxing Council interim super middleweight crown on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the hope of landing a fight with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
"I solidified myself as champion, I want them to know who the real champion of the division is. Who wants to see the fight with Canelo? This new motivation made me stop the way I did," Benavidez said after the contest.
Benavidez started slow and gave his opponent an advantage. But as soon as he finished analyzing him and began to press the accelerator, he cornered his rival and with powerful punches which forced Andrade's corner to stop the action as soon as the sixth round ended.
Meanwhile, Jermall Charlo scored a wide unanimous decision (98-92, 99-91 and 100-90) over Jose Benavidez Jr. after a two-year absence from the ring.
Charlo gave Benavidez Jr. no room to work and although he assured that his power did not show up on the night, he will return to fight three to four fights in 2024, no matter what division he limits himself to.
On the action-packed card, Puerto Rican champion Subriel Matias demolished Shohjahon Ergashev to defend the International Boxing Federation super lightweight title. Matias came out fighting fire with fire until he forced the Uzbek's corner to stop the contest in the sixth round.
In a fight for the World Boxing Association lightweight crown, Dominican Hector Luis Garcia fell to Lamont Roach's fists in a split decision (114-113 Roach, 114-113 Garcia and 116-111 for Roach).
Re-live the highlights from an action packed night of boxing below.