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Benavidez Vs. Morrell: A Necessary Step to Legitimacy

David Benavidez should be forced to face ‘regular’ WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell next, who will win to challenge whoever comes out of the undisputed 175-lb title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in the tournament of October 12 in Riyadh.

Ideally, Benavidez should face Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) next, with the winner challenging the winner of Bivol-Beterbiev for the grand prize of four belts. Benavidez won’t willingly put his now-guaranteed title on the line against the talented and likely-to-lose Cuban David Morrell.

Turki Alalshikh: A Key Promoter

Benavidez will get a ton of money fighting for an undisputed light heavyweight championship with Artur Beterbiev or Bivol. Still, if the Honorable Turki Alalshikh could convince Benavidez that it would be best to face Morrell first, he would.

Only Turki can persuade Benavidez to fight Morrell because there is no chance he will volunteer to fight him in the semi-final. He wouldn’t do that if there was a mountain of money to be made fighting the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol fight.

The WBC made it a lot easier for Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) to set himself up to face the Bivol-Beterbiev winner by sanctioning his last fight against the 37-year-old over his 175-lb Oleksandr Usyk . headline earlier this year on June 15 in Las Vegas.

That wasn’t to be for the interim WBC light heavyweight title, as Benavidez was making his debut at 175 and fighting an older fighter, Gvozdyk, who had just come out of a four-year retirement, having been out of the sport since 2019. in 2023.

Lackluster Performance by Benavidez

‘Mexican Beast’ Benavidez looked awful against Gvozdyk, running out of gas after six rounds and firing hard from the seventh to twelfth rounds in a fight last June that many boxing fans felt should have gotten a twelve-round draw at MGM. The Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The judges in Nevada gave Benavidez a wide decision, but the fans saw what happened. Benavidez looked awful and was stopped by Gvozdyk.

That performance by Benavidez was not good enough for him to go to the next level to challenge for the undisputed championship against Beterbiev or Bivol. The way Benavidez fights, he will have at least six losses in the 175 lb division and will not be the winner or loser of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol.


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