WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell Jr. and WBC interim beltholder David Benavidez will meet in a kickoff press conference next Tuesday, November 19, with their February 1 event on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Will discuss the fight.
The Morel-Benavidez press conference will be held next Tuesday in Los Angeles at NOVO at LA Live. Interestingly, Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is billed more than Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) despite holding only one interim title.
Morel should be named ahead of Benavidez on fight posters. If the Cuban knockout artist defeats Muriel Benavidez, he will be named first if a rematch takes place, which is likely. Benavidez’s management at the Premier Boxing Champions will certainly have a second fight to give ‘The Mexican Monster’ a chance to redeem himself.
Undercard
Brandon Figueroa Jr. vs. Stephen Fulton
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Angel Farrow
Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Jason Rosario
Figueroa vs. Fulton 2 rematch
In a co-feature on the February 1 card, the WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa Jr. (25-1-1, 19 KOs) will defend against the former WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion. Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) in a rematch of their fight three years ago on November 27, 2021. Fulton outboxed Figueroa, winning a 12-round majority decision.
Fulton’s career has not been good since her win, last year on July 25, 2023, an eighth-round technical knockout loss to Navya Inoue. The fight was completely uneventful, as Ino took advantage of Fulton’s weaker strength and defeated him first. Finishing it off in the eighth round.
Figueroa, 27, is just coming into his prime and will follow Inoue’s blueprint to the letter of blasting holes in Fulton, landing power shots until he collapses. This could be an easy knockout. ‘Cool By Steph’ Fulton isn’t the same fighter at featherweight as he was at 122, and he doesn’t have the power to be a factor in this division.
Fulton’s chin looked like Swiss cheese in his last fight against non-puncher Carlos Castro on September 14, collapsing in the fifth and staggered several times. Fulton, 30, eventually won a 10-round majority decision against a tired-looking Castro. Had the Mexican fighter not faded, he would have knocked Fulton out as he was hurting him with his shots in the first six rounds.
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Angel Farrow
Also, on February 1st, Benavidez vs. Muriel Card, light welterweight Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs) takes on Angel Ferro (22-2-2, 17 KOs). Both guys are coming off losses and need a win to stay in contention.
Pitbull Cruz lost a 12-round split decision to Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela on August 3rd in Los Angeles. Ferro lost a one-sided 10-round unanimous decision to Alfredo Santiago on June 15 in Manatee, Puerto Rico.
