David Benavidez and David Morrell face off tonight in Las Vegas in what could be an early fight of the year contender.
The two undefeated competitors are recent addition to the light-heavyweight ranks, with both making their proper move up to the division last year.
Benavidez outpointed former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June before Morrell defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic two months later, also over the distance.
Both men showed signs that they may not be the same force they were at super-middleweight, making an already intriguing match-up even more so.
Add to that Benavidez’ WBC Interim Title and Morrell’s WBA Regular belt will be on the line, meaning the winner is first in line for a fight with the winner of the undisputed rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol later in the month, it is an unmissable main event.
Juan Manuel Marquez – who himself took on a Cuban fighter in Las Vegas in Joel Casamayor – is backing Benavidez to come through a ‘complicated fight.’ The four-weight world champion told The Tennessean that ‘The Mexican Monster’ will use attribute that are more fine-tuned than Morrell’s.
“This is going to be a complicated fight for Benavidez across the first few rounds. However, Benavidez’s speed and the level of his past opponents are better than Morrell’s.
“Benavidez has shown us his speed, his power and his conditioning, which will be very important and allow him to overcome Morrell and win this fight by a decision.”
On the undercard, Brandon Figueroa puts his WBC featherweight title up against Stephen Fulton Jr in a rematch of their thrilling 2021 encounter. Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz looks to bounce back from defeat to Jose Valenzuela by facing Angel Fierro.
