WBA ‘ordinary’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell and WBC interim 175-lb champion David Benavidez meet tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19, for their kicker conference to begin promoting their February 1 showdown.
Morrell will give Benavidez a piece of his lip and let him know what he thinks of the ‘Mexican Monster’ for avoiding him all these years. The Cuban talent is frustrated with Benavidez’s evasion of him, calling him a “Coward” for choosing not to fight him.
Many believe Benavidez ended up repenting ONLY because Morrell didn’t look that hot in his debut at 175 against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd.
Former two-time WBC super middleweight champion Benavidez is trying to reinvent himself at 175 after outgrowing the 168-pound division. He should have moved up to light heavyweight five years ago, but he waited and tried to maneuver himself into a title fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) are considered the two best fighters at 175 outside of the undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev and former WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol. Whoever in the Benavidez vs. Morrell fight emerges victorious, one of those two could fight in the first half of 2025.
Morrell-Benavidez meets on Tuesday at The NOVO at LA Live at 1pm PT (9pm UK). The two will appear on PBC Prime Video pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the co-feature on the card, WBC World Featherweight Champion Brandon Figueroa fights Stephen Fulton in a rematch. This is a fight that could steal the show from the main event.
The two fought on November 27, 2021, with Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) defeating Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision. Fulton neutralized Figueroa’s power by outboxing him.
Since that fight, Fulton’s chin has been squeezed by Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue, who lost to him by knockout in the eighth round on July 25 last year. In Fulton’s last match, he was injured by Carlos Castro, but was able to survive and win a 10-round split decision.
Fulton hasn’t looked like the same fighter he once was before Inoue, and there are questions about whether this is a permanent vulnerability for him. If Fulton can no longer take a hard shot with crumbling, he will not fare well against Figueroa, who will be on him non-stop.
Other undercard fights
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Angel Fierro
Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Jason Rosario
