WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell and WBC interim 175-lb champ David Benavidez meet tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19th, for their kickoff Press Conference to begin promoting their clash on February 1st.
Morrell will give Benavidez a piece of his lip, letting him know what he thinks of the ‘Mexican Monster’ for avoiding him all these years. The Cuban talent has been frustrated with Benavidez’s ducking him, and he’s labeled him a “Coward” for choosing not to fight him until now.
Many believe Benavidez finally relented ONLY because Morrell didn’t look so hot in his debut at 175 against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd.
The former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez is trying to reinvent himself at 175 after outgrowing the 168-lb division. He should have moved up to light heavyweight five years ago, but he’d been waiting around, trying to maneuver himself into a title fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) are viewed as the two best fighters at 175, outside the undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev and former WBA title-holder Dmitry Bivol. Whoever comes out victorious in the Benavidez vs. Morrell fight could fight one of those two in the first half of 2025.
Morrell-Benavidez will meet on Tuesday at The NOVO at LA Live at 1:00 p.m. PT [9:00 p.m. UK]. The two will headline on PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the co-feature on the card, WBC World featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa fights Stephen Fulton in a rematch. That’s a fight that could steal the show from the main event.
Those two battled on November 27, 2021, with Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) defeating Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision. Fulton neutralized Figueroa’s power by outboxing him.
Since that fight, Fulton’s chin has been dented by Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue, losing to him by an eighth-round knockout last year on July 25th. In Fulton’s last match, he was hurt by Carlos Castro but was able to survive and win a 10-round split decision.
Fulton didn’t look like the same fighter he’d once been pre-Inoue, and there are questions about whether this is a permanent vulnerability for him. If Fulton can no longer take a hard shot with crumbling, he won’t do well against Figueroa, who will be on him nonstop.
Other undercard fights
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Angel Fierro
Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Jeison Rosario
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