Leonard Ellerbe says the light heavyweight matchup between David Benavidez and David Morrell will “settle the score” from their years of trash-talking when they meet in the main event of their “50-50” fight on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Why Did Benavidez Avoid Morrell?
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) seemed agitated during their kickoff press conference on Tuesday, upset at his courage being questioned by the Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and the fans for choosing not to take this fight until almost three years after the initial first callout.
It’s believed that Benavidez avoided Morrell because he was afraid to lose and then ruin his chances of fighting Canelo Alvarez. He wanted the Canelo fight but wasn’t willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to get it by facing Morrell.
After Benavidez’s last performance against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th, he had no choice but to fight WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion Morrell because he had looked so bad in his debut at 175. To get the fight for the undisputed championship, Benavidez had to fight Morrell. It wouldn’t have worked if he’d been matched against another older fighter because he’d been fighting those guys for most of his career.
There was no one that Benavidez could face that would wash away the sour stain from his disappointing performance against the 37-year-old Gvozdyk, who had out-punched and out-fought him through the entire second half of their contest.
“I expect to see two young warriors going at it. It’s two guys in their prime that are ready to settle the score,” said Leonard Ellerbe to K.O. Artist Sports about the February 1st fight between David Benavidez and David Morrell.
“There’s been a lot of back and forth between both of those guys for quite some time, and I think both are excited to get in there and show who’s the best. They’re right there. Everyone knows that when it comes to the top guys in the weight class, you got two of the top guys that are getting ready to go at it on February 1,” said Ellerbe about the Morrell vs. Benavidez fight.
There hasn’t been much back-and-forth between Benavidez and Morrell. It’s mostly been on one end from Morrell, who has been calling out Benavdiez for two years but has been intent on his forlorn chase of Canelo Alvarez.
If he could read between the lines, he would have known that Canelo would NEVER fight him. Benavidez could have moved on and saved two years of facing middle-of-the-road opposition by fighting Morrell. He won’t have to worry about that now that he’s fighting at 175 because the top fighters in this weight class don’t swerve their opponents like he did at 168.
If Morrell beats Benavidez, it will show many fans that they misjudged him all these years, fooled by his wins over soft opposition in a weight class he should have never been fighting in due to his massive light heavyweight-sized frame.
“I think neither fighter wants to look ahead. From the business side, the management are looking ahead, but the fighters [Benavidez and Morrell], they both know that both of these guys have their hands full. It’s a true 50-50 fight in my opinion,” said Ellerbe.
There’s no way that Benavidez and Morrell can look ahead, given that they realize that this is the toughest fight of their careers on paper. If either of them loses, they can forget about fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol rematch in Saudi Arabia.
It’s a big step up for Morrell, 26, but it’s also a difficult one for Benavidez, too. ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s best career win came recently against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th, and he did not look good. That fight showed that Benavidez was no longer going to dominate like he’d been doing at 168 against smaller, weaker, and older fighters.
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