David Benavidez could face WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell next January in a fight that will put the winner in a position to fight for the undisputed 175 lbs champion.
Salvador Rodriguez reports interest in Benavidez vs. Morrell in January. That matchup will have fans excited to see these two goliaths meet, with the winner challenging whoever emerges as the undisputed champion in the Oct. 12 fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
The bad news is that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will miss using Benavidez to help sell his December 14 card in Houston. Tank is defending against super featherweight Lamont Roach, and the fans have absolutely no interest in that fight.
Not having Benavidez on the December 14 PPV draw card will be bad for Tank and the PBC because he is important in generating interest among the fans. They are not interested in paying $75 to watch Tank Davis destroy the light puncher Lamont Roach. It’s a dumb idea for Tank to fight Roach instead of one of the more talented lightweights.
Benavidez-Morrell is a big enough fight to top the card, which is why it won’t be canceled for Tank’s event on December 14. Their fight will be the catalyst for Tank’s clash with Roach.
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) recently moved up to 175 and defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic by a twelve-round wide decision to capture the WBA ‘standard’ title on August 3rd on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov in Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles.
Cuban Morrell’s performance was not his best, as he was unable to put Kalajdzic down despite hurting him several times with big shots. What was missing was the grumbling that Morrell would need to get the KO. Had he done that, he would have knocked Kalajdzic out early in the third because he was still stunned after taking a big left hand.
“I was told that there is a lot of interest in David Benavidez and David Morrell to face each other next January. In this way, on December 14, in Houston, there will be Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach, and Alberto Puello and Sandor Martin will join them,” said Salvador Rodriguez to X.
Morrell could destroy Benavidez’s dreams of getting a fight with Canelo Alvarez if he defeats him. It’s a fight that Benavidez, 27, has been chasing for five years, but has come up short due to lack of resurgence and lack of name recognition among mainstream boxing fans in the US.
While hardcore fans know Benavidez well, the general public doesn’t, and he’s not a PPV draw. So, he was on Tank’s undercard last June, and would have been this time if it weren’t for the potential Morrell fight.
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