David Benavidez’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, is unsure if he’ll be fighting WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell next in December.
When asked if the Benavidez-Morrell fight is happening next, Lewkowicz said that Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) is promoted by his lawyer, and it would be a conflict of interest to represent him. Lewkowicz says he’s unsure if Morrell will be next, and he’s not saying whether Jesse Hart could be the opponent.
It could be that Benavidez is unwilling to put his WBC mandatory spot at risk against Morrell because if he loses that fight, he’ll miss out on a well-playing fight, possibly for the undisputed. Morrell would have an excellent chance of beating Benavidez due to his punching power and superior skillset. Benavidez is a volume guy who is very average now that he’s fighting in his natural weight class at 175 rather than 168.
Fans hoped to see Benavidez fight Morrell because that would be a huge fight involving two top 175-pounders. The winner would be able to fight for the undisputed or one of the fragmented titles if Artur Beterbiev ends up with the belts. He may move up to cruiserweight if he’s victorious in his four-belt clash against Dmitry Bivol on October 12th.
“Let me put it this way. The promoter of [David] Morrell is my lawyer for 30 years. So, it would be a conflict of interest to represent me. So I’m out of the deal. I don’t know who he [Benavidez] is fighting next and who will be next,” said Sampson Lewkowicz to YSM Sports Media, whether David Benavidez was fighting David Morrell or Jesse Hart next. “For this particular fight, I’m not involved.”
It seems strange that Lewkowicz isn’t saying whether Morrell is a definite possibility for Benavidez or if it’s 35-year-old fringe. It would be easy enough for Lewkowicz to say whether one of the two are possible options for Benavidez.
Many fans suspect that it’s going to be Hart that Benavidez will be fighting because he’ll want to play it safe and not put his WBC mandatory position at risk against Morrell. Losing a fight against Morrell would not only ruin Benavidez’s chance for the millions he would get fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia, but it would permanently wreck his chances for a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Benavidez isn’t going to put that dough at risk by fighting a talent like Cuba’s David Morrell, who could blast him into the next galaxy with one of his power shots.
If this were a gimme-level guy like virtually all of Benavidez’s past 29 opponents on his record, it would likely already be a done deal. Morrell is too dangerous, a much different type of fighter than anyone Benavidez has faced during his 11-year career. He actually has talent.
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