David Benavidez posted on social media today that he’s fighting Jesse Hart next rather than WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell. Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says Morrell is a “future opponent” for him.
That’s a big letdown for fans, who had hoped that the 11-year pro Benavidez would take a step up in competition by facing Morrell rather than another ham & egger like he’s been doing for most of his career.
The 35-year-old Hart (31-3, 25 KOs) is ranked #3 WBO and #14 WBC at 175. So, Benavidez would be defending his WBA interim light heavyweight title against a contender in the World Boxing Council’s rankings.
“I will be fighting Jesse Hart next, not Morrell, but [he] is a future opponent,” said David Benavidez on social media.
It’s not a big shock that Benavidez is swerving a fight against the dangerous puncher David Morrell because he’s the WBC mandatory to IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev, who is facing WBA champ Dmitry Bivol on October 12th for the undisputed championship in Riyadh.
Benavidez has a guaranteed title shot against the Beterbiev-Bivol winner at some point, and there’s a lot of money for him to scoop up. We’re talking millions Benavidez will get by fighting the winner in one of the Riyadh Season events. If Benavidez were to fight the Cuban talent David Morrell, he’d be putting that enormous payday at risk.
If Benavidez were to lose to Morrell, he could say bye-bye to the undisputed fight against Beterbiev or Bivol. Instead, it would be Morrell who would be the one getting all that cash, whereas Benavidez would be left picking up the pieces of his career.
This news has upset many fans, who view it as another example of Benavidez ducking the talented Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who has been calling him out for two years with no success.
Benavidez is receiving a tremendous backlash from angry fans on X, who are lighting into the fighter nicknamed ‘The Meixcan Monster’ by Mike Tyson, but who has yet to beat anyone actually to earn that monicker.
Rather than fighting Morrell, Benavidez has been padding his record against the likes of Demetrius Andrade, David Lemieux, Caleb Plant, Kyrone Davis, and Oleksandr Gvozyk.
The grizzled veteran Jesse Hart is known for his two losses to Gilberto Ramirez, and Joe Smith Jr. Hart’s best career win came against journeyman Demond Nicholson. Other than him, Hart’s resume is empty of quality victories.
Hart has won his last five fights against little-known non-contenders since losing to Joe Smith Jr. in 2020. It’s unclear why he’s been given #3 ranking by the WBO, but I guess they have their reasons.
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