David Benavidez revealed today on social media that he could face WBC ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell next. Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) initially said that he was “cooking up something big,” and when pressed, he said it was a fight against Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs).
Capturing the WBA secondary belt from Morrell would give Benavidez more credibility as a challenger for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol winner.
If Morrell is victorious, Benavidez will have life-long regrets about taking this risky matchup. All the money he thought he was going to get as the WBC mandatory to Beterbiev would be up in smoke.
I could see Benavidez as an old man someday, saying to himself, ‘Why did I do it? Why did I fight Morrell?’ It would be torture for Benavidez to second-guess himself for the rest of his life if the talented Cuban Morrell destroys him.
It’s a very winnable fight for Morrell, who is stronger and more suited to the 175-lb division than Benavidez.
Benavidez is finally showing interest in facing the talented Cuban Morrell, and his recent lackluster performance against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd could be the reason. Benavidez-Morrell would be an excellent fight if it can get made. It would be a great addition to Gervonta Davis’ next undercard in December.
Despite hurting Kalajdzic several times and winning a wide 12-round decision, Morrell looked tentative in the fight. Morrell could have knocked him out if he’d been throwing sustained combinations,
After that performance, it’s not surprising that Benavidez has come out of the woodwork, eager to fight Morrell. If Morrell fixes that problem by throwing combinations, Benavidez will be in trouble.
“Cooking up something big for y’all for my next fight. Stay tuned. If everything goes right and he accepts, [David] Morrell,” said David Benavidez on social media for his next fight in December.
Benavidez floated a vision he’d cooked up, saying that if he defeats the Beterbiev-Bivol winner to capture the four belts, he could defend them against Canelo Alvarez at a catchweight. It was a wacky pipe dream because Benavidez’s chances of beating Beterbiev or Bivol would be virtually zero.
Benavidez’s power at 168 was absent at 175, and it was clear that he was not the same fighter in this division. In other words, Benavidez can’t dominate against fighters his size and will need to figure out a different way of winning. If Benavidez keeps fighting the way he did at Super Middleweight, it’s only a matter of time before he’s knocked out.
If the fight with Morrell, 26, gets made, it’s unclear if Benavidez’s WBC mandatory spot would be up for grabs. If Benavidez loses that, he could forget about getting the winner of the October 12th undisputed championship fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
If Morrell can get his hands on the WBC mandatory spot, it would be him who would take on the winner of that fight if he could defeat Benavidez. That would mess up Benvidez’s plans for the mega-payday that he’s counting on by fighting the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol fight.
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