David Benavidez revealed today on Instagram that his fight against WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell is a done deal. WBC interim 175-lb champion Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says the “date & location of the fight will be announced later.
This move by Benavidez could blow up in his face because the Cuban Morrell is a much bigger puncher, younger, and has superior technical skills. The only thing Morrell is missing is Benavidez’s high punch output and experience. Besides that, Morrell is more suited to fighting at 175 than him. Benavidez is still punching like a 168-pounder but with the size of a light heavyweight.
Benavidez says he had a lot of options, but he wanted to fight the “best” possible opponent, and that was the unbeaten Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs). The winner of the fight will be in line to challenge the winner of Saturday’s undisputed championship between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Again, it’s a risky match-up for Benavidez, 27, because he’s already the WBC mandatory for Beterbiev’s 175-lb championship. However, Benavidez needs a win over Morrell to create interest in challenging Beterbiev or Bivol. Neither of those two fighters has mentioned Benavidez, and one reason for that is his lackluster performance in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Benavidez’s stock dropped badly after that fight because he barely won. The judges who worked the fight in Las Vegas gave Benavidez a wide decision, but it looked almost even at the end. In the second half of the fight, Gvozdyk got the better of a weak and tired-looking Benavidez.
“There were a lot of names on the table, but I wanted to give my fans the best fight possible. I reached out to David Morrell and his team to make this happen, and we got the contract done. This fight is really going to be a banger. Two of the best in the division and two titles on the line. Date & Location to be announced shortly.” said David Benavidez on Instagram today, revealing that he’ll be fighting WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell next.
Morrell defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic by a 12-round unanimous decision in his debut at 175 on August 3rd in Los Angeles. That wasn’t a great performance from Morrell because he failed to put Kalajdzic away despite hurting him multiple times in the contest. Still, as bad as Morrell looked in that fight, he fought much better than Benavidez did in his debut at 175 against Gvozdyk.
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