David Benavidez vs. David Morrell clash in 52 days on February 1 will be a WBC light heavyweight final eliminator to decide the mandatory for the February 22nd rematch between undisputed 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
There’s a load of money at stake for the Benavidez-Morrell winner. Whoever emerges as the victor will be fighting the Beterbiev-Bivol winner for big dough, likely in Riyadh, and will make a fortune against one of them. For the ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, it’s the payday he’s been chasing his entire career with his relentless pursuit of a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
WBC Mandatory Position
Morrell’s WBA ‘regular’ 175-lb title and Benavidez’s WBC interim strap will be at stake for their clash on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their event will be shown on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) could upset the applecart by defeating Benavidez, who has done a lot of boasting about himself during his 11-year pro career, fighting in a division below his massive cruiserweight frame, and competing against smaller, lesser opposition throughout. His resume is littered with older, smaller fighters like Demetrius Andrade, Roamier Alexis Angulo, David Lemieux, and Anthony Dirrell.
If Benavidez gets beaten in this fight, fans will realize that he was just a fake hype job all these years and was never the guy he’d made them believe. In other words, a weight bully would be a pretty fair description.
The more experienced pro Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is seen as a slight favorite with fans. However, Morrell is the slightly younger, faster, stronger puncher and the better technical fighter. He also has superior stamina to Benavidez, who looked exhausted after six rounds in his debut at 175 last summer on June 15th in his clash against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas.
Gvozdyk, 37, had the better power in that fight and was the one that pushed the fight in the last six rounds. The Judges scored it for Benavidez by a wide 12-round decision, but it appeared to be a draw. In other words, the A-side fighter David got lucky.
Many suspect that ‘the Mexican Monster’ isn’t the same guy now that he’s competing at a higher weight, carrying more pounds on his frame, and facing opposition his equal size with superior power.
