“The Mexican Monster” systematically broke down Anthony Yarde on Saturday night.

David Benavidez bloodied Yarde’s nose, battered the powerful challenger until he went down in the seventh round and stopped him about a minute later at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Referee Hector Afu mercifully halted the action at 1:59 of the seventh round, as Benavidez hammered away at a defenseless Yarde, who was backed against the ropes.

Phoenix’s Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2 contender in the light heavyweight division, retained his WBC belt and won a vacant version of the WBA belt in the main event of “The Ring IV: Night of the Champions” pay-per-view show. Dmitry Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs), whom Benavidez wants to fight in 2026, owns The Ring, IBF, WBA and WBO championships.

“It’s definitely what I expected,” Benavidez told DAZN’s Claudia Trejos in the ring. “When I signed to fight Anthony Yarde, I said, ‘Oh man, this is gonna be a war.’ And this is what I dreamt about, you know, both of us going to war. I think he cut me in round six and I said, ‘You want a shootout? Let’s go for it, then.’ And you see what I did. He stepped into Monstruo’s world and he got KOd.”

England’s Yarde (27-4, 24 KOs), ranked fourth by The Ring, is 0-3 in light heavyweight title fights. The London native hurt Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev in their fights, but both Russian champions came back to knock him out in August 2019 and January 2023, respectively.

Yarde’s bloody nose was an obvious issue as the seventh round began. Afu brought Yarde to a ringside doctor before he allowed Yarde to continue.

Yarde went down as Benavidez blasted head and body shots a little less than a minute into the seventh round. Afu took a point from Benavidez because he hit Yarde with a left hand when Yarde was already down.

Undeterred, Benavidez broke down Yarde until Afu stepped between them to spare Yarde from taking unnecessary damage.

Benavidez waved Yarde forward after Yarde landed a right uppercut in the middle minute of the sixth round. Benavidez landed a punch that bloodied Yarde’s nose soon thereafter, which encouraged the champion to unload a barrage of power punches on the challenger until the bell rang to end the sixth round.

After fighting off his back foot for five rounds, Yarde landed a right hand as soon as the sixth round began and backed Benavidez into the ropes. Benavidez brought the bout back to the center of the ring several seconds later.

Benavidez backed Yarde into the ropes again in the final minute of the fifth round and landed several right hands.

Yarde snuck in a right uppercut with just over 1:20 to go in the fifth round. Benavidez and Yarde landed right hands as they traded shots a little less than a minute into the fifth round.

Afu allowed Yarde to hold Benavidez’s right arm, which enabled Benavidez to unleash a flurry of a dozen-plus punches, many of which landed as the fourth round came to a close.

Yarde landed a right hand with approximately a minute to go in the fourth round. Benavidez unloaded a combination in response.

Yarde and Benavidez landed right hands during an exchange about a minute into the fourth round.

Benavidez pressed forward in the third round, but Yarde threw enough back at him to make Benavidez think twice about letting his hands go. Benavidez did connect with two right hands in the final 15 seconds of the third round.

Benavidez fell as he tried to land his right hand just before the bell rang to end the second round. He wasn’t injured, but he looked at what he thought was a slippery spot on the canvas.

Benavidez backed Yarde into the ropes and landed a right early in the second round. Yarde responded with a left hook that made Benavidez briefly retreat.

Yarde countered Benavidez with a right that landed with slightly more than 50 seconds on the clock in the first round. Benavidez’s right made Yarde reset his feet with just over 1:40 to go in the opening round.