Leonard Ellerbee says the light heavyweight matchup between David Benavidez and David Morell will be the trash talk of the year when they meet in the main event of their February 1 “50-50” fight at T-Mobile Arena. from “Will Settle the Score” in Las Vegas
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Heaphy/Premier Boxing Champions)
Why did Benavidez avoid Morel?
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) appeared angry during his kickoff press conference on Tuesday, after Cuba Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) and the fans chose not to take the fight until around 3 p.m. Looked worried at their courage. Years after the initial first call-out.
It is believed that Benavidez avoided Morel because he was afraid of losing and then ruining his chances of fighting Canelo Alvarez. He wanted the Canelo fight but wasn’t willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to get it by facing Morel.
After Benavidez’s last performance against Oleksandr Govzdik on June 15, he had no choice but to fight Muriel, the ‘regular’ WBA light heavyweight champion, as he looked awful in his debut at 175. Fight with Morel. It wouldn’t have worked if he was up against another older fighter because he’d been fighting those guys for most of his career.
There was no one Benavidez could face to wash away the sour stain of his disappointing performance against the 37-year-old Govzdic, who punched and outpunched him throughout the second half of their contest.
“I expect to see two young fighters go at it. These are the two guys who are going to settle the score,” Leonard Ellerbee told KO Artist Sports of the Feb. 1 fight between David Benavidez and David Morell. are ready for
“There’s been a lot going on between these two guys for a while, and I think both guys are excited to go out there and show who’s the best. That’s where they’re at. Everybody knows that when the weight When it comes to the top guys in the class, you’ve got two top guys that are getting ready to go at it on February 1st,” Ellerbee said of the Morel vs. Benavidez fight.
There hasn’t been much back and forth between Benavidez and Morel. It has mostly been at one end from Morel, who has been calling out Benodiz for two years but is intent on chasing down Canelo Alvarez’s impotence.
If he could read between the lines, he would know that Canelo would never fight him. Benavidez could have gone ahead and saved two years of facing middle-of-the-road opposition by fighting Morel. He will no longer have to worry about him fighting at 175 because the top fighters in that weight class don’t wear down their opponents the way he did at 168.
If Muriel beats Benavidez, it will show many fans that they misjudged him all these years, fooling him for his wins over soft opposition in the weight class. Should never have fought due to his large light heavyweight size frame.
“I don’t think any fighter wants to look ahead. From a business side, management is looking ahead, but fighters [Benavidez and Morrell]they both know that these two boys have their hands full. It’s a real 50-50 fight in my opinion,” Ellerby said.
There’s no way Benavidez and Morel can look ahead, given that they realize this is the toughest fight of their careers on paper. If either of them loses, they can forget about fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia against the winner of the Artur Beterbeev vs. Dmitry Byul rematch.
It’s a big step for the 26-year-old Morel, but it’s also a tough one for Benavidez. ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s career-best win came as recently as June 15 against 37-year-old Oleksandr Govsdic, and he didn’t look good. This fight showed that Benavidez would no longer dominate as he did at 168 against smaller, weaker and bigger fighters.
