Chris Algieri is leaning toward David Benavidez beating David Morrell at 175 in early 2025. He feels that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is the bigger guy at light heavyweight than Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who holds the WBA. ‘regular’ 175-lb title.
At 168, Algieri feels Morrell could possibly win because of the trouble Benavidez has getting down to that weight. The two fighters are expected to meet on January 25 in a clash that has yet to be made official.
Benavidez, 27, recently made his debut at 175 and defeated former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk via a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 to win the interim World Boxing Council belt.
He didn’t look good in the debut, looked out of gas after six rounds and took a lot of heavy punches from Gvozdyk in rounds 7 through 12. If Benavidez fights Morrell like this, he might get knocked out because he hits harder than Gvozdyk and will hitting him with massive shots.
“I probably favor Benavidez because it’s at 175. If it was at 168, I might favor Morrell,” Chris Algieri said. Inside Boxing Live on the David Morrell vs. David Benavidez fight early in 2025. “I think David Benavidez struggling to get down to 168 took a little bit out of him, even though he had the advantage of being the bigger guy. I think Morrell was perfect for 168. Such an incredible physique for that weight class. The strength, the length, all of it.
Benavidez-Morrell will be at 175, not 168, as both guys have given up on the super middleweight division because there are more opportunities for interesting fights in the light heavyweight division. Canelo Alvarez is doing other things with his career at 168 and has never shown any interest in fighting Benavidez or Morrell.
Morrell could be a problem for Benavidez at 175 if he can increase his work rate from what he showed in his debut in the division against Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic on August 3rd. The undefeated Morrell was losing on single shots and didn’t capitalize on the numerous times he hurt Kalajdzic because he wasn’t stringing his punches together in combination form.
The fight ended up being harder than it needed to be for Morrell, so that’s on the plus side. Benavidez picked Morrell because he looked bad, and he wouldn’t have gotten the fight against him if he had shined against Hotrod.
“I think at 175 I would favor Benavidez. At 168 I may favor Morrell. He’s fantastic,” said Algieri, “regardless, this fight, at whatever weight class it happens, it’s a very tough fight. It’s a very close battle. I am very glad it is on the docket. I can’t wait until we get there because you never know in this sport. It’s an exciting time to have these young guys fighting each other.”
If Morrell wins, there will be a lot of fans pouring on Benavidez for taking this fight when he shouldn’t have. He could have just waited for his mandatory title fight against WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
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