By Norm Frauenheim –
David Benavidez, who continues to search for an opponent for his second light-heavyweight fight, is interested in David Morrell amid confusing, often contradictory posts that quote him as saying he’ll fight Jesse Hart next.
The Boxing Hour confirmed a report early Thursday by Boxing Scene that Benavidez asked his management to send an offer to Morrell for a fight, perhaps in December. It’s not clear how Morrell will respond. The two exchanged some trash talk when both were still at super-middleweight.
Benavidez, who was still a mandatory challenger at 168 pounds and hopeful for a shot at champion Canelo Alvarez, ignored Morrell. Morrell accused Benavidez of ducking him. If that sounds familiar, it is. Benavidez has accused Canelo of ducking him for a couple of years.
But things have changed. Both Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and Morrell (11-0, KOs) have moved up to light-heavy and each are coming off victories that left doubts about how they would do at 175 pounds. The 27-year-old Benavidez, troubled by hand injuries and a healing cut over one eye, scored a unanimous decision over former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk June 15 in Las Vegas. Morrell, a 26-year-old Cuban living in Minneapolis, also won a unanimous decision in his light-heavy debut, beating Radivoje Kalajdzic August 3 in Los Angeles.
There was also talk throughout Thursday in media and reportedly from Benavidez himself that his next opponent would be Jesse Hart, a Philadelphia fighter and former super-middleweight challenger who has been at light-heavy since 2019. Hart, 35, is 3-1 at 175 pounds, losing a split decision to popular Joe Smith in January 2020.
As of Thursday, however, there was no announcement of a Benavidez-Hart or Benavidez-Morrell fight from PBC (Premier Boxing Champions), which represents Benavidez.
Benavidez posted on social media that he would be fighting Hart next instead of Morrell, who he did say would be a future opponent. Then, Benavidez deleted the post, but not before a couple of web sites quoted him as saying Hart, not Morrell, was next.
That’s when Hart responded on X, formerly Twitter, twice:
First, Hart posted: “I dont know nothing about fighting
david benavidez i haven’t spoken to anybody involving details about us fighting i dont know where yall getting this narrative”
Then, in response to somebody who posted the Hart-instead-of-Morrell scenario as if it were fact, Hart countered: “Fake news”
The Hart possibility has been rumored for a few weeks. If there were any talks, however, they didn’t go far. Sources have told The Boxing Hour that Hart wants more money than he has been offered for a fight with Benavidez, the World Boxing Council’s so-called mandatory challenger at light-heavy.
Presumably, that would put Benavidez in line to fight the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol winner. Beterbiev and Bivol fight for the undisputed light-heavy title in one of the division’s biggest bouts in history Oct. 12 in Saudi Arabia.
If Bivol wins, however, Canelo could get in the way of Benavidez’ pursuit of a light-heavyweight title. Canelo has mentioned Bivol repeatedly since his one-sided decision over Edgar Berlanga Sept. 14 at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. He has talked about avenging his scorecard loss to Bivol in May 2022. Beating Bivol, he says, would do more for his legacy than a big-money fight against ex-welterweight great and pound-for-pound claimant Terence Crawford, now at junior-middleweight.
Canelo gets whatever he wants. No fake news there. The WBC did not strip Canelo of its 168-pound belt when Benavidez was still it’s mandatory challenger at that weight. Instead, it gave Benavidez a so-called option. Really, he had no choice. He had to move to 175-pounds and beat Gvozdyk. Then, he was installed as the mandatory at the heavier weight. But it’s safe to assume the WBC will grant Canelo’s wish and find a way to give him a shot at another undisputed title if Bivol beats Beterbiev.
No matter what happens, Benavidez has to win his next one whether it’s against Hart, or Morrell, or Fill In The Blank Here. For now, at least, the date is not clear. A few weeks ago, it was thought Benavidez’ next fight would be in Los Angeles on Dec. 14 or Dec. 21. Now, however, there are conflicting dates.
On Dec. 14, popular Jaime Munguia, coming off a solid decision over Eric Bazinyan in Glendale AZ last Friday, is reportedly interested in fighting at home, Tijuana, and Golden Boy Promotion plans to stage a card featuring welterweight Alexis Rocha in Ontario, Calif.
On December 21, most of the boxing audience will be watching the live-stream of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury heavyweight rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Benavidez might have to wait until early next year. There’s been talk of Vegas’ MGM Grand. There’s also talk that it’s time for him to return to Phoenix, his hometown and the heart of his fan base.
He hasn’t fought in his hometown since a third-round blowout of David Lemieux at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, a few miles of roadwork from where grew up on the streets of Phoenix.
