WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) will be defending his belt against WBC interim 175-lb champ David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to Salvador Rodriguez, who broke the story, the Morrell vs. Benavidez fight will be announced next week. Many boxing fans are looking forward to it, as it’s by far the most difficult fight in the former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez’s career, and one he can lose.
This fight will show whether Benavidez, 27, is as good as he and his fans think. He’s been hounding Canelo Alvarez for a fight for years, but without taking a risky fight to David Morrell to earn the match. Canelo wanted Benavidez to prove himself, but he chose not to until now.
Many fans believe the ONLY reason Benavidez finally agreed to fight Morrell is that he didn’t look great in his recent debut at 175 against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd. If Morrell had destroyed Kalajdzic, Benavidez likely would have continued to ignore him as he’d been doing for well over a year.
The winner of the Morrell vs. Benavidez fight will eventually get a world title shot against whoever holds the WBC title after undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev faces Dmitry Bivol in a rematch. Those two could fight late next year, so the Morrell-Benavidez winner probably won’t get a chance to fight for the WBC title until 2026.
If the Morrell vs. Benavidez fight is competitive enough, a rematch would make sense to keep them both busy while they wait for a shot at the four belts if they don’t get vacated.
Morrell, 26, and Benavidez moved up to 175 from 168 after giving up on the super middleweight division. There were no opportunities to fight the unified champion, Canelo Alvarez, who wanted nothing to do with either.
This is a great opportunity for Morrell to show the boxing world that he’s got the talent to be a superstar in the sport. Beating Benavidez would take Morrell’s career to the next level.
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