Benavidez vs. Morrell: 50/50 War

Leonard Ellerbe says the light heavyweight matchup between David Benavidez and David Morrell will “decide the score” of their years of trash-talking when they meet in the main event of their “50-50” fight on Feb. 1 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)

Why did Benavidez avoid Morrell?

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) looked upset during their kick-off conference on Tuesday, troubled by his mettle being questioned by Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and the fans for choosing not to take this fight to nearly three not to take year after the initial first call.

It is believed that Benavidez avoided Morrell because he was afraid of losing and then ruining his chances of fighting Canelo Alvarez. He wanted the Canelo fight but wasn’t willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to get it by facing Morrell.

After Benavidez’s last performance against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15, he had no choice but to fight WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion Morrell because he looked so bad in his debut at 175. To fight for the undisputed championship get, Benavidez had to fight Morrell. It wouldn’t have worked if he was matched up against another older fighter because he fought those guys for most of his career.

There was no one Benavidez could face that would wash away the sour stain of his disappointing performance against the 37-year-old Gvozdyk, who knocked him out and out fought him throughout the second half of their match.

“I expect to see two young warriors go at it. These are two guys in their prime who are ready to settle the score,” Leonard Ellerbe said KO Artist Sport about the February 1 fight between David Benavidez and David Morrell.

“There’s been a lot of back and forth between both of those guys for quite some time, and I think both of them are excited to get in there and show who’s the best. They are right there. Everybody knows that when it comes to the top guys in the weight class, you’ve got two of the top guys getting ready to go at it on February 1st,” Ellerbe said of the Morrell vs. Benavidez fight said.

There wasn’t much back and forth between Benavidez and Morrell. It was mostly to one side of Morrell, who has been calling out Benavdiez for two years but was focused on his abandoned pursuit of Canelo Alvarez.

If he could read between the lines, he would have known that Canelo would NEVER fight him. Benavidez could have moved on and saved two years of facing middle-of-the-road opposition by fighting Morrell. He won’t have to worry about that now that he’s fighting at 175 because the top fighters in this weight class don’t outswing their opponents like he did at 168.

If Morrell beats Benavidez, it will show many fans that they’ve been misjudging him all these years, fooled by his wins over soft opposition in a weight class he should never have fought in due to his massive light heavyweight-sized frame.

“I don’t think either fighter wants to look ahead. From the business side, the management is looking forward, but the fighters (Benavidez and Morrell), they both know that both of these guys have their hands full. It’s a real 50-50 battle in my opinion,” said Ellerbe.

There is no way Benavidez and Morrell can look ahead as they realize this is the toughest fight of their careers on paper. If one of them loses, they can forget about fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol reunion in Saudi Arabia.

It’s a big step for Morrell, 26, but it’s also a tough one for Benavidez. ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s best career win recently came against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15, and he didn’t look good. That fight showed that Benavidez is no longer going to dominate like he did at 168 against smaller, weaker and older fighters.