Light heavyweight David Benavidez is eager to make an example out of David Morrell Jnr ahead of their February 1 clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez, 28, recently moved up to the light heavyweight division to defeat former tittleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk via unanimous decision in June. Morrell, who, like Benavidez, fought previously at super middleweight, moved up to light heavyweight in 2024, winning a unanimous decision over Radivoje Kalajdzic in August.
For years, Morrell, 11-0 (9 KOs), had boldly called out Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), fueling personal animosity between the fighters along the way. In a “Gloves Off: Benavidez-Morrell” YouTube video posted by Premier Boxing Champions, Benavidez shared his thoughts on the matchup.
“I am going to make an example out of him,” Benavidez said in the video. “For the rest of the light heavyweight division to see I am not playing with nobody.”
So confident is Benavidez that he believes Morrell’s career could be over after their fight.
“He is in for the hardest fight of his life,” Benavidez said. “To be honest with you, I don’t think he is going to fight after this fight. He is probably going to retire.”
Part of the bout’s intrigue is grounded in the fact that both fighters have been perceived as boogeymen in their division at different times in their careers.
Benavidez has long pursued a fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez that has not come to fruition. Cuba’s Morrell, 27, is a high-risk, low-reward opponent who had struggled to land a fight with a marquee opponent. He will finally get his wish against Benavidez, a brand name in US boxing.
“David Morrell is definitely in trouble for this fight,” Benavidez said. “At the end of the day, no one fights like me.”
Lucas Ketelle took an unconventional path to boxing, eventually finding his stride in gyms and media. For the past decade, he has hosted the “Lukie Boxing” podcast, filmed training camps for fighters like Arnold Barboza Jnr, Mikey Garcia and Caleb Plant, and worked with top professionals such as Mike Bazzel. Ketelle is also an author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for ProBox TV, BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @LukieBoxing.
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