David Benavidez could face WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell next January in a fight that will put the winner in position to fight for the undisputed championship at 175 pounds.
Salvador Rodriguez reports interest in Benavidez vs. Morrell fight in January. That matchup would have fans excited to see these two goliaths meet, with the winner challenging each as the undisputed champion in the October 12th fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol.
The bad news is that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will miss out on using Benavidez to sell his December 14th card in Houston. Tank defends against super featherweight Lamont Roach, and fans aren’t very interested in that fight at all.
Not having Benavidez on the December 14th card to pull in the PPV buys will be bad for Tank and PBC as he is important to generate fan interest. They’re not interested in paying $75 to watch Tank Davis destroy light puncher Lamont Roach. It’s a stupid idea for Tank to fight Roach instead of one of the talented lightweights.
Benavidez-Morrell is a big enough fight to make its own card, so it won’t be wasted on Tank’s December 14th event. Their fight would dwarf Tank’s clash against Roach.
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) recently moved up to 175 and defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic by a wide twelve-round unanimous decision to capture the WBA ‘regular’ title on August 3rd on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov in a Riyadh Season Card in Los Angeles.
The performance by the Cuban Morrell was not one of his best as he could not put Kalajdzic away despite hurting him several times with big shots. What was missing was the sustained flurry that Morrell would need to get the KO. If he did, he would have knocked Kalajdzic out as early as the third because he was badly stunned after eating a big left hand.
“I’ve been told there is a lot of interest from David Benavidez and David Morrell to face each other next January. That way, on December 14, in Houston, there would be Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach, and Alberto Puello and Sandor Martin would join them,” said Salvador Rodriguez. X.
Morrell could destroy Benavidez’s dreams of getting a fight against Canelo Alvarez if he prevails against him. It’s a fight Benavidez, 27, has been chasing for five years, but he’s come up empty due to his weak resume and lack of name recognition with casual boxing fans in the US
While hardcore fans know Benavidez well, the casuals don’t, and he’s not a PPV draw. That’s why he was on Tank’s undercard last June, and he could have been this time if not for the potential Morrell fight.
