WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell is highly doubtful that David Benavidez will get his wish to face Canelo Alvarez in 2024.
With all the time and effort that WBC interim 168-lb champion Benavidez and his dad, Jose Sr., have put in, calling Canelo out 24/7, moaning and complaining to the media, Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) doesn’t see the fight happening for them.
Benavidez has gone about the Canelo fight the wrong way by swerving Morrell, and not fighting guys his own size, like former IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
If Benavidez really wanted to put pressure on Canelo, he’d face Morrell and Opetaia and show the fans that he’s fearless and not just looking to get a payday, which is what many believe he’s trying to do.
The much easier clash to be put together is against Morrell because he’s with PBC like Benavidez, and he wants his scalp. That would be an outstanding fight for Amazon Prime Video PPV in the first quarter of 2024.
Morrell is a realist, and he’s not a dreamer. He feels that Benavidez’s best hope for a massive fight in 2024 is against him, and he wants to knock ‘The Mexican Monster’ down a peg to show the boxing world that he’s not the fighter that they thought he was.
The Cuban talent Morrell expects Canelo to face Jaime Munguia in 2024 and whoever else but NOT Benavidez, who will need to go in another direction.
Morrell feels that Canelo has got his own ideas for next year, and he’s not going to be pressured by the 26-year-old Benavidez into fighting him. Benavidez has run out of old guys for him to fight, having exhausted the supply at hang by defeating these gatekeepers:
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb Plant
– David Lemieux
Benavidez has talked about wanting to take on Jermall Charlo in May to eliminate one of Canelo’s possible opponents in 2024, but that’s a pipedream as well. Jermall won’t fight Benavidez because he knows that he’s still in the running for a Canelo payday. Also, he’s got a compelling match against Caleb Plant still available to him.
The fight that can be made for Benavidez is against Morrell. When asked if he wants to fight Benavidez, Morrell said, “100%.” Whether Benavidez will take the fight is another matter because he and his dad, Jose Sr. have shown no interest in fighting Morrell.
They obviously don’t want to put the Canelo fight at risk, which is silly because the chances are they’re not going to get it anyway.
