David Benavidez chose to continue his work of establishing his legacy.
A ring confirmed that a big change has come as it relates to Benavidez’s next fight. The undefeated two-time WBC super middleweight champion will face David Morrell. Their long-discussed match is set to headline the PBC Prime Pay-Per-View event in the first half of 2025.
Other details were not available as of publication. Multiple sources have informed The Ring that the timing is from the end of January or the end of February.
This development is in stark contrast to Benavidez’s team representatives who say the stories of the heated confrontation with Morrell are “false”. Benavidez (29-0, 24 knockouts) even stopped the fight at one point. The 27-year-old from Phoenix—now based in the greater Seattle area—previously alleged that he faced Jesse Hart on December 14th.
Those rumors were quickly dismissed by Hart, who had no experience with the game. PBC officials eventually pulled Benavidez’s fight that day, which was dominated by the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach WBA title fight.
Benavidez will get his own show, and fight to prove his best act. Ring found that part of his group’s claims were “fake news”. The latest round of the pit featured a fight featuring the Sebastian Fundora-Errol Spence junior middleweight title fight.
That similarity is yet to come to the show. However, Benavidez-Morrell has never been nominated on his undercard even if Fundora-Spence becomes a reality. The fight is big enough to command its own banner, which is exactly why Benavidez ran head first in that direction.
“There were many names on the table, but I wanted to give my fans the best fight,” said Benavidez on Tuesday on social media. “I reached out to David Morrell and his team to do this, and we got the contract.
“This fight will be really uphill! [Two] among the leaders in the division and [two] articles on the line.”
The articles to which Benavidez refers are of the second variety. Benavidez holds the interim WBC light heavyweight title. Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs)—who works out of Cuba and trains in Houston—holds the interim WBA light heavyweight belt.
Both of these boxers previously campaigned at super middleweight and were always linked to a clash. It was a natural talking point, as the two previously targeted undisputed RING/super middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs). However, the sentiment was less than unanimous in return.
Benavidez and Morrell have decided separately to campaign at light heavyweight.
A pair of undefeated talent appeared in seven weeks apart.
Benavidez defeated former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 in Las Vegas. The fight came in the form of Davis’ knockout in the eighth round of the undefeated Frank Martin.
Morrell went twelve rounds with a unanimous decision victory over Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles. Their fight was part of the inaugural Riyadh Season in the US, topped by Terence Crawford’s fourth title win over Israil Madrimov.
Rumors kept resurfacing of a direct conflict, although they seemed to be on different tracks. Ring learned that previous plans wanted Morrell to headline the PBC Prime show-off PPV-in November or December. Those plans were scrapped as the PBC roster was restructured and more relevant matchups emerged.
Few on the schedule are as attractive as this fight, without one or more titles at stake.
Benavidez was already guaranteed to win this weekend’s Artur Beterbiev-Dmitrii Bivol RING/undisputed light heavyweight title. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed that Benavidez will be the next challenger in waiting.
Morrell’s version of the WBA title will also put him on the line. However, that would require the sanctioning body to take appropriate action.
It’s a moot point at the moment, as they turn to each other for their next payday, both firmly convinced that the reward justifies the greater risk.
