PHOENIX — The right wrist was hurting. The left knuckle was bruised. The fight was painful. But the homecoming was sweet. Jose Benavidez Jr. made sure of it.
Benavidez (12-0, 11 KOs) overcame injuries to both hands and turned his hometown pro debut into a knockout, a fourth-round stoppage Saturday night of well-traveled Corey Alarcon (14-18-1, 4 KOs) at Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino.
“I actually met with my doctor a couple of weeks ago about the injury to my right wrist and he told me that maybe I should postpone this fight,’’ Benavidez said. “I told him ‘No way.’
“I’ve been waiting too long for this.’’
Benavidez said he had not been able to use his right hand in training at all since he suffered an apparent strain to the wrist in a victory in early May on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s unanimous decision over Shane Mosley in Las Vegas.
“I didn’t throw it at all tonight,’’ Benavidez said.
Actually, he threw it at least once. Once was enough. A right hand behind Benavidez’ stinging, precise jab knocked down Alarcon, of Denver, for a second time in the fourth. Seconds later, referee Bobby Ferrara had seen enough after Alarcon stumbled backwards. Ferrara stopped it, a TKO, at 1:02 of the round.
The big knuckle on Benavidez left hand was scarred and swollen perhaps because that was the only hand he could throw throughout training. He relied on it for three-plus rounds, with shots that echoed throughout the small theater-like arena and rocked Alarcon’s head repeatedly. No telling what the 19-year-old Benavidez could have done – and might do – with two good hands.
Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler was happy with what he saw in the junior-welterweight prospect, who signed with Bob Arum’s promotional company as a 17-year-old.
“We wanted to see what Jose could do when he was under some real pressure,’’ Trampler said. “This was his homecoming. I thought he was little tight in the dressing room before opening bell. But, yeah, I think he delivered. I really do.’’
Trampler said he will wait a few days, perhaps as long as a week, to see how Benavidez’ hands are before Top Rank thinks about time, place and opponent for his next bout.
Best of the undercard: Call it a draw. Phoenix super-bantamweights Emilio Garcia (2-0-1, 1 KOs) and Alexis Santiago (8-0-1, 2 KOs), emerging rivals, each fought their way to unanimous decisions, Garcia beating Buddy Holly look-alike Eric Henson (0-1) of Albuquerque in a four-rounder and Santiago over Carlos Luque (2-7) of Mexico in a six-rounder.
Garcia displayed resilience after scoring a couple of knockdowns with a succession of body punches in the first round. Santiago had to adjust and rely on his agile footwork in the face of stubborn pressure from a bloodied Luque.
Garcia-versus-Santiago is inevitable in a can’t-miss fight for a Phoenix promoter trying to sell tickets.
The rest: Phoenix junior-middleweight Juanito Gonzalez (2-0, 1 KO) won a unanimous decision over Mexican Moses Alvizo (0-3); New Orleans middleweight Justin Williams (3-3-1, 2 KOs) upset Mexican Jovan Munoz (12-2, 5 KOs) in a third-round stoppage; and Mexican lightweight Oscar Meza (22-4, 18 KOs) won a third TKO over mismatched Kelly Wright (4-8) of St. Louis.
