David Benavidez vs. David Morrell in 52 days on February 1st will be a WBC light heavyweight final eliminator to determine the mandatory for the February 22nd rematch between undisputed 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
There’s a ton of money on the line for the Benavidez-Morrell winner. Whoever emerges victorious will fight the Beterbiev-Bivol winner for big dough, likely in Riyadh, and will make a fortune against either of them. For ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, this is 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-pound title and Benavidez’s interim WBC belt will be on the line for their clash on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their event will be shown on PBC Prime Video PPV.
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) could upset the apple cart by defeating Benavidez, who has boasted plenty during his 11-year pro career, fighting in a division below his massive cruiserweight frame and 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 is beaten in this fight, fans will realize that he was just a fake hype job all these years and was never the guy he led them to believe. In other words, a weight bully would be a pretty fair description.
The more experienced pro Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is considered a slight favorite among 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 15 in his showdown against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas.
Gvozdyk (37) had the better power in that fight and was the one to push the fight to 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.
