David Benavidez selected to proceed his run of building his personal legacy.
The Ring has confirmed {that a} drastic change in route has come because it pertains to Benavidez’s subsequent struggle. The unbeaten former two-time WBC tremendous middleweight titlist will subsequent face David Morrell. Their long-discussed matchup is being groomed to prime a PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View occasion within the first quarter of 2025.
Additional particulars weren’t but established as this goes to publication. A number of sources have knowledgeable The Ring that the time-frame is anyplace from late January or to late February.
The event is in stark distinction to representatives from Benavidez’s workforce claiming “false” information of a mouthwatering conflict with Morrell. Benavidez (29-0, 24 knockouts) even dismissed the struggle at one claiming. The 27-year-old Phoenix native—now primarily based within the better Seattle space—beforehand alleged that he was going through Jesse Hart on Dec. 14.
These rumors had been instantly dismissed by Hart, who had no data of the matchup. PBC officers in the end dominated out Benavidez preventing on that date, which is headlined by the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach WBA light-weight title struggle.
Benavidez will as a substitute get his personal present, with a struggle to warrant his personal headlining act. The Ring has discovered that half was the “false information” a part of his workforce’s claims. The newest spherical of gossip had the struggle co-headlining a long-rumored Sebastian Fundora-Errol Spence junior middleweight title struggle.
That matchup has but to make its technique to the schedule. Regardless, Benavidez-Morrell was by no means tabbed for its undercard even when Fundora-Spence turns into a actuality. The struggle is sufficiently big to command its personal banner, exactly why Benavidez ran head first in that route.
“There was lots of names on the desk, however I wished to offer my followers the most effective struggle doable,” Benavidez stated Tuesday on social media. “I reached out to David Morrell and his workforce to make this occur, and we received the contract completed.
“This struggle actually goes to be a banger! [Two] of the most effective within the division and [two] titles on the road.”
The titles to which Benavidez refers are of the secondary selection. Benavidez holds the interim WBC mild heavyweight title. Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs)—a Cuban export who trains in Houston—has the interim WBA mild heavyweight belt.
Each boxers beforehand campaigned at tremendous middleweight and had been regularly linked to a head-on collision. It was a pure speaking level, as each beforehand focused RING/undisputed tremendous middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs). Nonetheless, the sensation was lower than mutual in return.
Benavidez and Morrell individually determined to as a substitute marketing campaign at mild heavyweight.
The pair of unbeaten elite-talent fighters appeared inside seven weeks of each other.
Benavidez outpointed former WBC mild heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 in Las Vegas. The bout got here in supporting capability to Davis’ eighth-round knockout of unbeaten Frank Martin.
Morrell went twelve rounds in a factors win over Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles. Their struggle was a part of Riyadh Season’s debut launch within the U.S., topped by Terence Crawford’s fourth divisional title win over Israil Madrimov.
Rumors consistently resurfaced of a direct conflict, although they seemed to be on separate paths. The Ring has discovered that prior plans referred to as for Morrell to headline a PBC on Prime present—off PPV—in November or December. These plans had been scrapped because the PBC lineup was reshuffled and extra related matchups got here to floor.
There are few on the schedule as enticing as this struggle, with out a number of main title at stake.
Benavidez was already assured to subsequent truth the winner of this weekend’s Artur Beterbiev-Dmitrii Bivol RING/undisputed mild heavyweight championship. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed Benavidez as the subsequent obligatory challenger in ready.
Morrell’s model of the WBA title would theoretically place him in queue as effectively. Nonetheless, that may require the sanctioning physique to take acceptable motion.
It’s a moot level for now, as they flip to one another for his or her subsequent payday, each of the agency perception that the reward justifies the large threat.
