David Benavidez will face WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will be announced next week.
Fans are going to potentially see Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) get put in his place by the Cuban talent Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who possesses more power, hand speed, and overall ability than the ‘Mexican Monster’ or should I say, ‘The Ecuadoran Monster.’
“On February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there would be the duel between David Benavidez and David Morrell. They could present the event next week in California,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X.
Morrell’s Power Could Wreck Benavidez
If Benavidez loses to Morrell, he can permanently forget about fighting Canelo Alvarez because he’ll never be able to redeem himself in time to get a whiff of a fight against the superstar before he retires.
Benavidez is a favorite for casual boxing fans who aren’t familiar with Morrell, but that’s because they haven’t seen the Cuban star in action. We could see a knockout win for Morrell because Benavidez’s aggressive, some say, ‘reckless’ style of fighting puts him in the line of fire with the way he posts up in front of his opponents to focus on throwing combinations.
The massive Benavidez got away with that fighting style when he fought at super middleweight because he was much bigger than his opponents.
Still, when he moved up to 175 last summer for his debut in the weight class against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he discovered how tough life would be for him. Gvozdyk was nailing Benavidez with many hard punches, dominating the second half.
Benavidez was full of excuses after the fight, trying to explain away hi performance, but the fans saw the truth. He’s not the same fighter without the size advantage he’d been accustomed to having at 168.
There’s no word yet on who will be on the undercard, but it may not matter because there’s enough fan interest in the Benavidez vs. Morrell fight for the event to do well without a massive card.
Benavidez Must Raise His Game
The last fight for Benavidez against Gvozdyk showed that he’s not same fighter at 175 that he was at 168, and he doesn’t have the power. His upper body is skinny and scrawny. Benavidez can’t generate power like the big hitters in the light heavyweight division.
The Best Power Punchers at 175
- David Morrell: The King
- Artur Beterbiev
- Joshua Buatsi
- Anthony Yarde
The Benavidez-Morrell fight was scheduled for January 25th, but it’s being moved a week later, which isn’t a big deal. Whoever emerges as the winner could challenge for the WBC title at some point after undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev faces Dmitry Bivol in a rematch.