David Benavidez claims he’ll fight David Morrell after he captures the undisputed light heavyweight championship this year.
Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) says the Cuban Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) doesn’t have a big name, but he’ll still fight him if he captures the four belts at 175 first.
Is Benavidez Ducking Morrell?
Boxing fans think Benavidez is afraid of Morrell because he’s a big puncher with both hands and highly technical. Morrell grew up in Cuba and fought for the national team. Morrell believes Benavidez has been ducking him, and he’s let fans know that.
For Benavidez to accomplish his goal of becoming undisputed champion at light heavyweight, he needs to beat former WBC champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th in their battle for the mandatory & interim title.
If Benavidez loses to Gvozdyk or against the winner of the undisputed championship at 175, he can still eventually fight Morrell, but it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to jump straight in with him coming off a loss unless he’s willing to risk everything in the hope that he can turn things around.
The chances are Morrell beats Benavidez, and he’d be stuck slinking back down to 168 if he can still make that weight for the division.
Then if Benavidez wins that fight, he’ll need to defeat the winner of the June 1st undisputed championship clash between IBF/WBC/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA champ Dmitry Bivol.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh will need to give the green light for Benavidez to fight the Beterbiev-Bivol winner, though, because he might have something else in mind for whoever emerges from that match. It’s possible that Beterbiev and Bivol will have a second fight before the eventual winner defends the undisputed championship against challengers.
Morrell Building His Case
Morrell has a fight for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title on August 3rd against Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Those two are fighting on His Excellency’s card, headlined by Terence Crawford vs. Ismail Madrimov.
“He’s a really good fighter. I feel that the person I wanted to fight at 168 [is Canelo Alvarez], because I’m kind of already done with 168, because it’s harder for me to make it,” said David Benavidez to the Sean Zittel YouTube channel talking about David Morrell.
Benavidez: “That Fight is Going to Happen”
“So now that he’s coming up to 175, it’s a great opportunity. That fight is going to happen sooner or later,” said Benavidez about Morrell. “I see him coming up to 175, talking a lot of s***. I’m going to shut his a** up.
“Like I guaranteed the fans, that fight is going to have sooner or later. Also, it will be a bigger pay-per-view if we wait until later. His name is not that big, but I don’t give a f***,” said Benavidez about Morrell.
Fans don’t believe Benavidez’s excuses for why he’s not willing to fight Morrell. When they see him fighting guys like David Lemieux and Demetrius Andrade instead of Morrell, they draw the logical conclusion that Benavidez doesn’t want that smoke.
I don’t blame him. Benavidez has got a good thing going, making good cash fighting older guys, and using Canelo Alvarez’s name for clout purposes to give the illusion that he’s the best.
“We’re at 175. I’m going to go with this next fight [Oleksandr Gvozdyk], and see what happens next, and then, like I’m telling you guys, this fight is going to happen sooner than later,” said Benavidez.
“If you look at the landscape with PBC, there’s really not that many guys at 175. So after this fight between me and Oleksandr, hopefully we get the fights for the unified at 175. That will probably be the first defense [of the undisputed light heavyweight championship], David Morrell.”
Well, Benavisez is right about the light heavyweight division being one that is barren of big names. Once you get past Beterbiev and Bivol, there’s no one there other than Morrell, who only the hardcore boxing fans are familiar with in the U.S, and he’s a very dangerous fighter for a guy who prides himself on volume punching like Benavidez.
“That’s the fight I wanted. There are fights that excite me. There are people that are scared. I embrace all of them.
