David Benavidez posted on social media today that he is fighting Jesse Hart next rather than the WBA’s ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell. Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says Morrell is a “future opponent” for him.
This is a huge disappointment for fans, who were hoping that 11-year pro Benavidez would take a step up in the competition by facing Morrell rather than another ham and egg as he has done for most of his career.
The 35-year-old Hart (31-3, 25 KOs) is #3 WBO and #14 WBC at 175. So, Benavidez would defend his WBA interim light heavyweight title against a contender in the World Boxing Council’s rankings.
“I will fight Jesse Hart next, not Morrell, but (he) is a future opponent,” David Benavidez said on social media.
It’s not a huge shock that Benavidez is turning down a fight against dangerous puncher David Morrell, as he is the WBC mandatory for IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev, who will fight the WBA on October 12 champion Dmitry Bivol to face for the undisputed championship in Riyadh.
Benavidez has a guaranteed title shot against the Beterbiev-Bivol winner at some point, and there’s a lot of money for him to pick up. We are talking about millions that Benavidez will get by fighting the winner in one of the Riyadh season events. If Benavidez were to fight Cuban talent David Morrell, he would put that enormous payday in jeopardy.
If Benavidez were to lose to Morrell, he could say goodbye to the undisputed fight against Beterbiev or Bivol. Instead, it would be Morrell who would be the one to get all that cash, while Benavidez would pick up the pieces of his career.
This news has upset many fans, who see it as another example of Benavidez eluding the talented Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who has been calling him out for two years without success.
Benavidez is receiving tremendous backlash from angry fans at X, igniting the fighter nicknamed ‘The Meixcan Monster’ by Mike Tyson, but who has yet to beat anyone to earn that monicker.
Rather than fight Morrell, Benavidez padded his record against the likes of Demetrius Andrade, David Lemieux, Caleb Plant, Kyrone Davis and Oleksandr Gvozyk.
The grizzled veteran Jesse Hart is known for his two losses against Gilberto Ramirez, and Joe Smith Jr. Hart’s best career win came against journeyman Demond Nicholson. Unlike him, Hart’s resume is void of quality wins.
Hart has won his last five fights against little-known non-contenders since taking on Joe Smith Jr. in 2020. lost It’s unclear why he was ranked #3 by the WBO, but I think they have their reasons.
