HOUSTON -- It wasn't the most impressive performance of Joseph Benavidez's career Saturday night, but it still goes into the record books as a victory.
Benavidez got the best of Ali Bagautinov in their flyweight contest at Toyota Center, earning a pair of 30-27s and a 29-28 for his fourth consecutive victory.
"You guys can boo me," Benavidez (23-4) told a jeering crowd. "But he's a tough guy. You go in there and fight him."
The bout was a cat-and-mouse standup game, as Benavidez largely pushed forward, and Bagautinov, in his first bout since a suspension for blood doping, seemed content to keep his distance and occasionally counter.