David Benavidez posted on social media today that he will next fight Jesse Hart instead of “regular” WBA lightweight champion David Morrell. Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says Morrell is a “future opponent” for him.
It’s a big disappointment for fans, who were hoping that 11-year pro Benavidez would step up in competition by facing Morrell rather than another ham & egger like he’s done for most of his career.
The 35-year-old Hart (31-3, 25 KOs) is ranked #3 WBO and #14 WBC at 175. Therefore, Benavidez would have to defend his interim WBA lightweight title against a contender in the Council’s ranking World Boxing.
“I will fight after Jesse Hart, not Morrell, but (he) is a future opponent,” said David Benavidez on social media.
It is not a big shock that Benavidez is in a fight against the dangerous puncher David Morrell because he is the WBC mandatory for the IBF / WBC / WBO 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev, who faces the WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on the 12th October for the undisputed championship in Riyadh.
Benavidez has a guaranteed title shot against the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol at some point, and there is a lot of money for him to take. We are talking about millions that Benavidez will receive by fighting the winner in one of the events of the Riyadh Season. If Benavidez were to fight Cuban talent David Morrell, he would put that huge payday in jeopardy.
If Benavidez loses 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 money, while Benavidez would be left to pick up the pieces of his career.
This news has shocked many fans, who see it as another example of Benavidez defeating the Cuban talent Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who has called him for two years without success.
Benavidez is receiving tremendous backlash from fans angry at X, who are lashing out at the fighter dubbed “The Meixcan Monster” by Mike Tyson, but who has yet to beat anyone to earn that monicker.
Instead of fighting Morrell, Benavidez built his record against Demetrius Andrade, David Lemieux, Caleb Plant, Kyrone Davis and Oleksandr Gvozyk.
Grizzled veteran Jesse Hart is known for his two losses to Gilberto Ramirez, and the career-best win over Joe Smith Jr. Hart came up against the young Demond Nicholson. Other than that, Hart’s resume is empty of quality wins.
Hart has won his last five fights against little-known non-contenders since losing to Joe Smith Jr. in 2020. It is not clear why he was given the #3 ranking by the WBO, but I think they have their reasons.
