The David Benavidez vs. David Morrell bout in 52 days on February 1st will be a WBC lightweight final eliminator to decide the mandatory for the February 22nd rematch between undisputed 175lb champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
There is a lot of money at stake for the Benavidez-Morrell winner. Whoever emerges as the winner will fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol for a huge amount, probably in Riyadh, and will make a fortune against one of them. For “Mexican Monster” Benavidez, it’s the payday he’s been chasing his entire career with his relentless pursuit of a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
WBC Mandatory Post
Morrell’s WBA “regular” 175lb title and Benavidez’s WBC interim belt will be on the line for their February 1 clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their event will be shown on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) could upset the applecart by defeating Benavidez, who has made a lot of gains over himself during his 11-year pro career, fighting in a division below his massive cruiserweight frame, and competing against ‘to the smallest and less. the opposition as a whole. His resume is filled with older and smaller fighters such as Demetrius Andrade, Roamier Alexis Angulo, David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrell.
If Benavidez is beaten in this fight, the fans will realize that it was just a fake hype job all these years and he was never the guy they were led to believe. In other words, a weight bully would be a pretty fair description.
The more experienced pro Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is seen as a bit of a favorite with fans. However, Morrell is the slightly younger, faster, stronger puncher and the better technical fighter. He also has superior stamina to Benavidez, who looked tired after six rounds in his debut at 175 last summer on June 15 in his bout against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas.
Gvozdyk, 37, had the better power in that fight and was the one who pushed the fight into the last six rounds. The judges scored it for Benavidez by a wide decision of 12 rounds, but it appeared to be a draw. In other words, the A-side fighter David got lucky.
Many suspect that “the Mexican Monster” is not the same guy now that he completes at a higher weight, carrying more pounds on his frame, and facing the opposition of his equal size with superior power.
