David Morrell says he’s hopeful a fight between him and David Benavidez can happen soon now that they’re both fighting at 175. Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) sees action this Saturday, August 3rd, against Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) in a twelve-round battle for the vacant WBA World light heavyweight title at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV as part of this colossal card.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
Morrell’s Ambitions Beyond Kalajdzic
Morrell could face former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk next, allowing fans to compare his performance to Benavidez.
He defeated Gvozdyk by a competitive twelve-round unanimous decision on June 15th in a fight that was closer than the scores handed down by the three judges working the contest.
Benavidez appeared to barely win after gassing out after six rounds and getting dominated in the last six rounds.
A match between Morrell and Benavidez would be an ideal eliminator. The winner would fight whoever emerges when the smoke clears from 175-lb champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol fight.
Those two are fighting on October 12th, and there’s a possibility they could fight twice. Benavidez is the WBC mandatory for Beterbiev’s title with that organization, but he will need an opponent if there’s a rematch. That’s where Morrell comes in.
“I feel good. It’s been a long time since I fought at 175. It’s the same David Morrell every time. The only difference is the weight,” said David Morrell to Boxing News when asked how he feels going into his clash on Saturday night against Kalajdzic.
The talented Cuban Morrell, 26, has looked like pure 24k gold lately, defeating Sena Agbeko, Yamaguchi Falcão, and Aidos Yerbossynuly. Morrell had been calling out Benavidez and Canelo Alvarez but couldn’t get them to fight him.
He couldn’t even get Edgar Berlanga, his WBA mandatory, to show interest in fighting him. The last nail in the coffin was when Morrell couldn’t even get his mandatory Berlanga to fight him. Morrell is now making his debut against Kalajdzic on Saturday, hoping he doesn’t experience the same avoidance at 175 that he did at 158.
Benavidez’s Tendencies
For Morrell to get a fight against Benavidez, he’s likely to need His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s help because the ‘Mexican Monster’ has turned a blind eye to his callouts, preferring to fight older fighters, like Demetrius Andrade, Caleb Plant, David Lemieux, and Roamer Alexis Angulo.
Without Turki’s help, Benavidez will likely continue to avoid Morrell and take easy fights until he gets his payday clash against the Beterbiev-Bivol winner.
“Everybody says it’s better for me. My team says it’s better, and I feel better too,” said Morrell about moving up seven pounds from 168 to 175. I feel so strong, happy, and excited about the fight.”
Morrell has an excellent opportunity to be seen by many fans on Saturday night, fighting Kalajdzic on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov on DAZN PPV. There will be a lot of boxing fans tuning in to watch this event, and Morrell could steal the thunder from the headline attraction.
“I don’t know him. If they want me to fight him, I’ll win 100%,” said Morrell, reacting to the talk of him potentially facing former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk next.
It would be a real statement win if Morrell could knock out Gvozdyk. He’s only been stopped once in his career by Artur Beterbiev in October 2019.
“I’ll fight him better than David Benavidez. This guy is not easy, too. Benavidez is strong. “I think so. I want this fight to come,” said Morrell when asked if he thinks he’ll finally get to fight Benavidez now that they’re both at 175.
Hopefully, the Morrell vs. Benavidez fight can happen soon rather than it being marinated for two or three years.
Benavidez looked bad in his debut at 175. He won’t last much longer before he loses because he doesn’t look like he’s cut out for this division. He doesn’t hit hard enough, and his combination punching results in him gassing.
“Canelo 100%,” said Morrell when asked who will win the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga on September 14th.
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